


A Luminous Bond

by Skiddows



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blushing, Cuddling & Snuggling, Eda is best mom, Eda's Curse, Edric & Emira are good siblings, Embarrassment, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/F, Family, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Gay Panic, Gay disaster Amity, Good friend Willow, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Kissing, Luz gets mad and says a bad word, Luz is actually also a total disaster, Magic Theory, Oblivious Luz Noceda, Self-Discovery, an instance of child abuse, but nothing more because they're 14, so much damn blushing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:47:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 79,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25971598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skiddows/pseuds/Skiddows
Summary: One disastrous night will change Amity's life forever. Seeking solace in her friend, she and Luz will learn more about each other as they embark on a journey of healing and self-discovery. They push the boundaries of their friendship, explore the world of magic and might just find a way to help a certain Owl Lady along the way.-Post Wing It Like Witches - Canon Divergent after that but I might include some things from the show if they work.Rated T for some minor bad language
Relationships: Amity Blight & Luz Noceda, Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Lumity - Relationship
Comments: 688
Kudos: 1684





	1. A Blightful Night

It had been about a month.

A month since she had almost been forced to face her greatest fear in front of the entire school. Since she’d been faced with the prospect of her deepest secrets being outed in front of everyone and the consequences that, that might have had on her life. She had been miserable that day. Terrified. Until a fearless champion had offered to take her place.

 _Her_ fearless champion.

They’d had to defeat Grometheus together in the end though. They’d had that incredible, wonderful dance and done something with their magic that she’d never seen done before, creating something beautiful in the process. The memory of it all was enough to warm her cheeks and send her heart fluttering wildly the way it always did when _she_ was around.

A month and she still couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Amity found herself blushing furiously at the thought of her champion. The human girl that had stomped all over her carefully constructed walls and torn them down, brick by up-tight brick. Luz Noceda, with her unfailing optimism and carefree attitude, had wormed her way into Amity Blight’s heart and built herself a nest there. She hadn’t been fooled by Amity’s aloof façade and dismissals for a moment, nor had she allowed their less-than-ideal first impressions to colour her opinion of Amity.

Luz had shown her how to have fun again. She’d given her a friend to share her interests with. Stopped her twin siblings from pulling a truly cruel prank on her. She’d helped mend Amity’s relationship with Willow, who she’d been forced to part with as a child. Gods, she’d even given her the courage to finally part ways with the fake friends she’d been forced to keep company with her whole life.

Amity had been so happy to get the chance to return the favour at least a little when they’d played that Grudgy match against Boscha. She was pretty sure she’d made a total fool of herself that day but Luz hadn’t seemed to care and it had been exhilarating getting to team up with her again. It had totally been worth almost outing herself in front of Willow and Gus and the fractured leg, which the healing coven had fixed up in just a few days.

Luz had done more for Amity in the short time they’d known each other than anyone else in her life and she would be forever grateful to the human for it.

It made sense, she supposed, that Amity had fallen for her so hard.

Luz dominated her waking thoughts and ran rampant through her dreams with no regard for Amity’s need for sleep. She couldn’t spend two seconds in Luz’s company without panicking and going beet red and saying something incredibly stupid. How she hadn’t just burst into flames and died at this point was beyond her. The girl flustered her almost instantly and it had only been getting worse with time. Ever since that dance.

Frankly it was starting to become a problem. It was enough to drive her to distraction when she should have been focusing on her studies. A Blight must never present themselves as having any weaknesses, after all. Perfection must be maintained at all costs. But Luz had become a great, big, dork-shaped weakness in Amity’s life that she had no intentions of getting rid of.

Except maybe for tonight. Tonight she was supposed to be finishing an abomination essay so she needed to focus or her parents would start to notice the slight dip in her most recent grades. Her older twin siblings, Edric and Emira, weren’t home to annoy her and the house was quiet. It was the perfect time to get some work done.

So she tried her best to lock thoughts of the sweet human girl far into the back of her mind and think of nothing but the characteristics of abomination slime and how it could be altered for different purposes. She pulled her textbook closer to find that passage on hardening agents and then idly started doodling tiny Luz-shaped abominations in the margins of her book, accompanied by silly, embarrassing initials scrawled inside hearts.

The first time Amity had met her, Luz had disguised herself as an abomination in one of her many hair-brained schemes. It had been a terrible idea but adorably dorky and so very _Luz_. A smile tugged at her lips before she realized what she was doing and a frustrated groan escaped her throat, dropping her head onto the book with cheeks flaming.

Why was she like this? How in the Boiling Isles was she supposed to concentrate like this? Even giant, gelatinous, purple ooze monsters made her think of Luz! She was pretty sure she needed professional help.

Deciding she needed to get some things off her mind, Amity set her pen down on her desk and reached over to retrieve a simple mint-green lockbox. The lid was stamped with an A to show that it belonged to her. She’d gotten it to hide her more personal items after Ed and Em had found her old hiding place in the library. At least this thing had a less accessible key.

She unlocked the box to reveal an ornate crystal tiara. She and Luz had been awarded identical ones when they’d defeated Grometheus together. The sight of it brought back memories of their dance and she felt that damned fluttering again. A flush spread across her cheeks again and she had to stamp down the excited little squeal that rose in her throat. That dance had been the best moment of her life.

Setting the tiara aside, Amity pulled out a pink note that had been torn in two and carefully taped back together. Her gromposal to Luz. She’d casually tossed it aside when Luz had teasingly asked her about it but had later realized how stupid that had been. Anyone could have found the incriminating note just sitting beside the magical tree they’d grown. She’d found it before going home that night and locked it away immediately.

The note didn’t bring up the best memories but it had been important to her. Echoes of 'that’s what friends do' danced across her mind and she grimaced. Setting the note aside as well, Amity pulled out the only other object in the lockbox: her diary. If she wanted to get any actual work done tonight, she was going to have to vent some of her racing thoughts first.

Carelessly pushing her notes and essay aside, Amity set her diary down and opened it to the nearest blank page. The page just before it was covered in combinations of their names that made Amity blush all the way to the tips of her pointed ears. Dragging her eyes away from the embarrassing display, she retrieved her pen and began to write a new entry.

Intimate thoughts and feelings about the pretty human, the way she made Amity feel and all the adorably dumb stuff she did spilled onto the page and Amity found herself so focused on it that she failed to hear her bedroom door opening.

“Amity, dear, we need to discuss this report card I received today.” Crap. Amity’s heart slammed into her throat and she whipped her head around to stare, wide-eyed, at her mother.

Startled by the sudden reaction, her mother paused in the middle of the room just long enough for Amity to scramble out of her chair and stand in front of her desk, surreptitiously trying to push her diary behind her and out of sight. Her mother’s face turned stern and she took another step towards Amity’s desk. Her pinched expression made Amity shiver nervously.

“Try not to react in so undignified a manner, dear. It is unbecoming of a young Blight lady,” she said imperiously. Amity swallowed past the lump in her throat, trying desperately to slow her raging heart.

“I’m sorry, mother, you just startled me. I was working on an essay for school and didn’t hear you come in.” Would she believe the lie? Please, _please_ let her believe it and leave. The books were strewn across Amity’s desk, clearly visible and she _had_ been doing her essay. It was plausible.

Her mother’s cold, amber eyes narrowed just a touch. _Crap_.

“I would hope so. If this report card is anything to go by, it would seem you need to be spending a lot more time on your studies.” Her mother held the offending report up and presented it to Amity, who nervously glanced at it. “I haven’t shown this to your father yet, but I will be forced to if I see more results like this.”

Amity had to work very, _very_ hard not to roll her eyes in that moment, despite her rising anxiety. Her grades _had_ slipped a little but it had been barely noticeable and, in her defense, she’d been kind of distracted lately. Besides, she still held that coveted 'top student' ranking that her parents were so fond of boasting about.

The only time she’d even come close to losing it had been the day she’d met Luz and even then it had only been because the silly, delightfully sweet human had wanted to help Willow get better grades, like the kind idiot she was. Amity had been so frantic to get that badge back that she had nearly let Principal Bump _dissect_ Luz. That one still ate her up inside.

Pushing the awful thought aside, Amity squared her shoulders and lifted her chin in that signature Blight way she had learned over the years. Poised. Collected. Above it all.

Gods, please let her mother buy it and leave!

“Of course, mother. It won’t happen again. I’ll talk to Principal Bump about adding some more extra-credit assignments to my list tomorrow.”

The thought of even more work being piled onto her already packed schedule made that familiar anxious pit in her stomach twist sharply but she squashed it down. It was worth it to placate her mother. To make her leave so that she would not discover what Amity had actually been doing when she’d walked in.

To her dismay, her mother tucked the report card into a pocket and approached Amity. The older woman set her hands on her daughter’s shoulders sharply and their eyes met, sending a spike of fear down Amity’s spine. She was too close. She would _see_.

“Your father and I know we put a lot of pressure on you, dear, but we only want what’s best for the future of our family.”

Not her future. The family’s. It was not the first time Amity had heard that line and it wouldn’t be the last.

“Can I trust that you will do better from here on?” Amity felt her resolve crack at her mother’s callous tone and lowered her face to hide the pained grimace that had slipped through her carefully constructed mask.

“Yes, mother. I promise.”

That moment of weakness would be her undoing.

With their eyes no longer locked, the older woman was able to glance past her daughter and spy the doodles on the far edge of the diary behind her. Amity heard the irritated huff leave her mother. Felt the hand leave her shoulder and reach behind her. Her heart sank below her feet.

Her mother plucked the diary off the desk and held it up, eyeing the offending pages.

“This doesn’t look like a school text, young lady. I do not appreciate being lied to.” Amity felt panic rise in her throat like bile and she reached for the book desperately.

“Mother, please! That’s private. I _was_ working on my essay. I was just taking a short break!” She made a mad grab for the diary but her mother pulled the book out of reach and glared at her, freezing Amity in place. A dull roar of fear thrummed in her ears and she felt suddenly sick to her stomach.

“Amity Blight, what has gotten into you? What could possibly be so important that it has distracted you from your schoolwork?” Her mother turned her eyes to the pages.

It was too late.

Amity watched as her eyes darted across the page. Watched as her brows furrowed in confusion, then surprise and finally anger. When she spoke, it was in a tone so dangerously low that Amity felt her legs begin to tremble.

“What is this?” She turned to look at Amity and there was no mistaking the fury in her eyes, or the fear in Amity’s. She _knew_.

“Mother… I…” She was cut off when her mother turned the diary towards her, flashing the page filled with her pining over Luz in her face.

“Who is Luz? What is all this nonsense you’ve been writing about her?” Amity flinched back into the desk and the bump was enough to unsettle some of the papers laying across it. A flash of pink caught her mother’s eye and she turned towards the desk, spotting the open gromposal note. She shoved Amity aside and grabbed at it, reading it with disdain. “You invited this Luz girl to _Grom?_ ”

Amity could barely hear her over the terrified buzzing in her head.

“I didn’t give her the note!” She cried. Stupid! Why hadn’t she denied it? Made an excuse? She’d just basically admitted it was true!

“But you planned to!” Her mother snapped. “Why would you ever think it appropriate to invite a _girl_ to Grom? _Explain yourself!_ ”

This was it. There was no getting away from this now. Her mother already knew. It was too late to lie.

Amity took a shuddery breath and tried to steady her trembling hands by fisting them into the hem of her Hexide uniform. The fabric twisted between her fingers. She couldn’t look at her mother. She could feel tears burning in the corners of her eyes. Why was it suddenly so hard to breathe?

“I… I didn’t want to go with anyone else. I like Luz.” She swallowed thickly. “I… I like _girls_ , mother.”

She’d never admitted that out loud before. Not even to herself. But she’d just said it.

Out loud. To her mother.

Oh stars.

Her mother’s expression pierced into her and Amity felt herself recoil at the look.

“No, you do not.”

What? Amity’s head snapped back up. Their eyes met and she understood. She opened her mouth to agree. It was a silly misunderstanding. Of course she didn’t like girls. Her mother was right.

“Yes, I do.”

 _Stupid!_ She’d been given an out! Why hadn’t she taken it? But it was too late. Her mother latched onto Amity’s wrist and stormed from the room, pulling Amity along behind her. She didn’t fight it at first, the sudden action having thrown the younger girl totally off guard. Then she realized that they were headed downstairs to where her father was likely doing paperwork by the fire.

That was when she began to struggle.

“Mother, please don’t! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it!” Tears were streaking down her cheeks now, her breathing ragged and broken as she pulled desperately against her mother’s iron grip. The older woman didn’t even seem to notice.

Amity’s pleas fell on deaf ears as her mother stoically marched them into the downstairs parlour, just off the main entrance hall. She caught a brief glance of the large double doors that could lead to her escape from this nightmare before she was dragged through a doorway and deposited unceremoniously before her father.

He was sitting in his armchair, facing the fire but it was immediately apparent that their intrusion had irritated him. The stiff set to his shoulders and the way he snapped the file of papers he’d been reading shut with an audible slap made all the air rush out of Amity’s lungs.

“I believe I asked not to be disturbed tonight.”

The simple statement would have been enough to have Amity stammering apologies and running for her room, but she was trapped there. Her mother moved around to her father’s side, silently handing him the note and diary.

Amity fought the keening whine that had built in her throat with everything she had. A quiet whimper still managed to escape her and her father’s eyes whipped to her dangerously, head still. He frowned and then looked down at the small teal book and pink note he’d been given. He had all the evidence in his hands and he was reading it.

He _knew_.

The heat from the fire suddenly felt horribly oppressive despite the cool, early evening air. She felt a single bead of sweat slide down her neck and she shuddered. Amity watched her father rise and turn towards her slowly. There was no accusation. No question. He simply narrowed his eyes in a deeply terrifying glare, nailing her to the spot.

“I’ve heard of this ‘Luz’ girl from members of the Emperor’s Coven. She’s that human girl that has been traipsing around the Isle,” he said. Her mother actually gasped at that.

“A _human?_ ” She stared at Amity with renewed horror. “Not only a girl but a _human_ girl?”

Amity’s father leveled her mother with a look and she fell silent, but the horror on her face was still clearly visible. With a deep, disappointed sigh that made Amity’s skin crawl, her father spoke in a tone one might use for a particularly slow or belligerent child.

“You are a Blight. Your actions and the people you associate yourself with, affect the standings of this house. Have you forgotten your duties?

”Blights do not involve themselves with such sick notions and they certainly do not associate with _lower beings_. You will forget this nonsense immediately.”

His words were like ice down her spine and she fought the rising bile in her throat. Sick notions? He thought she was _sick_?

The accusation brought on another nauseating wave of anxiety that she had to fight not to surrender to. She valiantly ignored what he’d said about her and how it made her feel like she was a stain on his custom, demon-leather boots, choosing instead to focus on what he’d said about Luz.

“Luz is my friend. She’s a good person.” She saw his eyes darken and wished the floor would open up and swallow her whole. Titan be damned, why was she talking back?

“It would appear she is more than a mere friend.” He rapped the pages of her diary with his knuckles and Amity couldn’t help the visible flinch. There was no use denying that after he’d already read it all.

With a swift flick of his wrist, her diary went sailing into the fire, the pink Grom note fluttering to the floor where he unceremoniously stepped on it. Amity let out a small cry of dismay as all her inner most thoughts were set ablaze.

“I will not accept this twisted thinking in my household. When the time is right and you are of an appropriate age, you _will_ find a suitable _male_ companion from a family we deem fitting or _we will find one for you_.”

Something in the way he said that made her believe that they absolutely would force her to marry someone of their choosing. Likely someone she had never met that was just as cold and power hungry as they were.

She imagined a life like her parents’. Married off to some strange man as a business venture between covens. No love or joy between them, only a hollow marriage that projected the perfect image of the perfect, powerful family. Just endless, terrible perfection to cover up the cold, lonely world behind closed manor doors.

A flash of anger rose within her and somehow it overtook the cloying fear that had been suffocating her until then. She couldn’t live like that. She _wouldn’t_ live like that! She refused to let them take her entire life from her. She could feel her heart pounding in her throat and had to swallow past it to speak.

“You can’t just force me to like boys. I’m not going to let you marry me off to some rich family like a prized animal!” Her voice rose as she spoke and she was proud of how it hadn’t wavered by the end.

She had no idea where this defiant bravery was coming from but she clung to it like the most precious of lifelines. She couldn’t let them do this!

Her father’s face went red and she almost lost her nerve when he drew himself up in anger, towering over her. She felt small and fragile in front of him. Terrified, she balled her hands into fists, digging her nails into her palms in an attempt to hold on to the that tiny spark of courage. She could not back down now.

“Does the family reputation mean _nothing?_ Does your future at Hexside and with the Emperor’s Coven mean so little to you that you would throw it all away for some filthy little whore with no magic to speak of? I will hear no more of this ridiculous defiance!” He growled and she saw red.

That flash of anger ignited into a rage she’d never felt before. Irrational, animalistic anger filled her to her very core. Face twisting into a furious scowl, she took one hard step closer to her father and delighted in how he actually took a startled step back.

“I’m tired of you trying to make me be like you! I’ll _never_ be like you!” She hissed angrily. “I don’t care about our stupid family’s reputation! And don’t you dare talk about Luz that way! She’s the kindest, most wonderf-”

Pain bloomed across her face and stars burst behind her eyes. She suddenly found herself on the floor, blinking rapidly to clear her swimming vision. She tasted blood.

Confused and trembling all over again, she pushed herself up so that she was sitting. Her arms shook with the effort of holding herself upright. The wind had been knocked out of her and she gasped for air.

Head buzzing and foggy, Amity turned slowly toward her father in time to see him lowering his raised hand.

He had _hit_ her.

It was like someone had dumped a bucket of cold water onto the fire that had been blazing within her and snuffed it out in a second. He had never done that before.

Her parents were cruel. Manipulative. They had emotionally starved her and done all they could to control her with words or threats but not once had they ever laid a hand on her. They had never stooped to that. But Amity had never defied them like this either.

With a shaking hand, Amity reached up and touched her fingers to her lips, shocked to find that she was bleeding. She looked up at him in horrified silence and watched as he schooled his features, looking for all the world like nothing had just happened.

“That is enough. Do not talk back to me, Amity. I grow tired of this rebellious outburst of yours. Your mother and I have worked too long and too hard to be where we are now.

”I will not have it all threatened by the whims of a disturbed child. Blights are better than this. _You_ were once better than this. You will _do as you are told!_ ” He glared down at her imperiously as she trembled on the ground.

Amity swallowed hard. She tried to blink back the tears in her eyes, but they were already falling. When had she started crying? A whirlwind of emotions swirled in her mind, fighting for control.

Fear. Anger. Pain. Sick, cloying anxiety that twisted her insides into a tight knot. But above all, she felt hatred. For the first time, she truly hated her father and everything he stood for.

“Maybe I don’t want to be a Blight,” she murmured blankly, too overwhelmed to express anything more. Her father’s expression, however, screwed up and he seemed to swell in size before her.

“I see you are determined to drag the family name through the dirt for the sake of your own selfish, twisted desires. I will not allow you to destroy what I have worked for.

”There are ways of correcting your little affliction. This is nothing that a quick trip to the Conformatorium can’t cure, my dear.” His mouth pulled into a sneer and Amity felt the world shrink in on her.

She had heard stories of that awful place. Rumors told in secret of how witches like her were sent there and came out _different_. Like they’d somehow been stripped of everything that made them who they were. And that was if they made it out at all.

She’d never wanted to believe any of it. It wasn't like same-sex couples were unheard of on the Boiling Isles. Willow had two dads for crying out loud! It seemed so ridiculously unlikely. Something so cruel couldn’t possibly be allowed by the Emperor. But her father certainly seemed to think it was and he knew more than most about the inner workings of the Emperor’s Coven.

A new, visceral fear enveloped her and her vision swam. Somehow she knew that if she stepped one foot into that hellish place, Amity Blight would cease to exist.

“A Blight must adhere to certain standards. _Responsibilities_ ,” her father continued. _“_ Something you have clearly forgotten. You will stay in your room until such a time as I can make arrangements to _fix_ you.”

Fix her? Was she broken?

She blinked through her hazy vision and caught movement in the corner of her eye. It snapped her back to reality just as her father made to approach her, his arm outstretched to lock her away until they could fix her by taking away everything that she was.

In a blind panic she threw her arms up with a cry, fingers instinctually forming a large circle in the air.

A tall, oozing abomination rose to life between them, lashing out with a trunk-like arm and knocking her father back. He stumbled and fell to the ground with a loud thud as the abomination stood menacingly between him and Amity. The room fell deathly silent.

“You dare cast at me?” He was staring at her like he had no idea who or what she was. She felt an awful swell of guilt and shame and had to blink hard past her tears to look at him.

“Father, I’m sorry! I didn’t…” Didn’t what? Didn’t mean it? She had. She hadn’t intended to attack him though. Only block his path. “It was an accident!”

His face was still a mask of shock as he stared at her, wide-eyed.

“You… you are not my daughter.” She reeled back as if he’d struck her again. “I don’t recognize this foul creature you have become. My Amity would never stoop this low. She would never consort with something as unnatural as a human and she would never dare attack her own father. You are beyond saviour.”

He stood slowly, his temper gathering once more as he spoke. Her mother stood uselessly to the side, her hands covering her mouth in shock.

Why had she been so quiet? Why wouldn’t she help Amity? Why hadn’t Ed and Em come home to save her?

How had things gotten so far out of control?

“You are not a Blight.” Her father continued, his voice raising with every word until he was bellowing at her. “Get out of my house and don’t ever show your despicable face here again. Out! Get out of this house, you vile, lecherous little _monster!_ ”

Her breathing ragged with fear, Amity turned terrified, streaming eyes to her mother. Her last hope in this nightmare.

“Mother, _please_ …”

But her mother only glared at her and turned away. She felt truly alone in that moment. Cast aside by both of her parents simply for being who she was.

All the years of fighting to do as they asked, clawing her way to the top of everything she did so she would make them proud and maybe earn their affection. All of it wasted in one night.

A loud bang dragged Amity’s eyes away from her mother to see her father blasting her abomination to pieces in a single magical blow.

“Get. _Out!”_

He took a menacing step towards her and it was all the incentive Amity needed to bolt. She scrambled to her feet and ran. She barely noticed barreling through the large double doors of the manor, desperate to get as far away as possible.

Darkness clawed at the edges of her vision as panic tightened her chest. She stumbled down the stairs at the end of the driveway and, the second she had passed the massive gates to the manor, she tore off the road and into the forest surrounding the property. She had no idea if they were following her and couldn’t risk looking back to see.

Branches whizzed past her, grabbing at her arms and legs as she ran. She had no idea where she was running to. She needed to hide but where could she go?

The library was closed at night so she couldn’t get to her secret room there. She no longer spoke to Boscha and Skara and their families knew her parents anyway. Willow had already been threatened for simply being her friend and she had no idea where Gus even lived.

Where could she go that they wouldn’t find her?

Where would she be _safe_?

Heart pounding in her ears and eyes streaming, she realized there was only one place she could go. One place she _wanted_ to go.

So she ran.


	2. Discussions By Witch Light

The Owl House glowed merrily in the dark forest, warm light spilling from the windows. Luz had been happily chatting to Eda about her day at school and she'd been listening with her usual feigned reluctance, but it was becoming increasingly obvious that the Owl Lady was tired. She was sagging into the sofa, her eyes drooping and Luz decided it was probably time to free her of her maternal duties for the night. She had learned the hard way not to push Eda when she was sleepy so, when Eda begged for an early night, Luz easily agreed.

They were saying their goodnights and Eda had begun making her way to the stairs when loud, frantic knocking interrupted them. Luz shared a curious look with Eda. Their home was well hidden and very few people ever came to visit as it was. Who would ever think to drop by after dark? Before Luz could move to check though, Hooty, the magical wooden owl living in the door, began squawking wildly.

“Hoot hoot! Scary girl! The scary girl is back! Hoot!”

Scary girl? The only person Hooty had ever been scared of was… Did he mean Amity? Why would she be here? The Boiling Isles weren't safe in general and Amity was far too smart to travel alone at night. It didn't make any sense.

Had she come to see Luz? A thrill of excitement ran up her spine at the thought that Amity had braved the dark and dangerous woods just to see _her_ and Luz made her way hurriedly to the door, yanking it open with a big grin.

“Amity! What are you…” Luz trailed off and her smile faltered at the sight of her friend. Amity looked terrible. Pale and exhausted, her kept eyes darting nervously behind her as is if she were afraid she'd been followed. She was twitching and shivering and was that blood on her lip? She was hurt!

She looked up at Luz and her entire body sagged with relief against the door frame as their eyes met. Luz's brow creased with worry and she reached out tentatively to lay her hands gently on Amity's shoulders.

“Are you ok? What happened?” She asked and her stomach tightened when Amity flinched. She had never seen her look so terrified.

“Luz…” Amity whimpered and grit her teeth. What should she say? How could she explain why she was there? Luz's fingers tightened against her shoulders and her obvious concern broke something in Amity. Unable to hold back the flood of pain clawing its way up her throat, she crumbled into Luz’s arms with an agonized sob.

“Amity!” Luz yelped with a startled cry. “It’s… It’s okay. You’re gonna be okay.” She tightened her arms around her anxiously but Amity didn’t seem able to hear her.

She clutched desperately at Luz’s back, trembling fiercely. She couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe! She was almost certain that if Luz hadn’t been holding her together, she would shatter into a million tiny pieces.

Luz was desperately forcing down her own growing sense of panic at seeing Amity this way. She had to keep it together! She couldn’t freak out when Amity clearly needed help, but she had no idea what to do. Eda appeared behind them, looking much more awake and stared down at the sobbing girl with a concerned frown.

“Don’t just stand there, kid. Get her inside,” she said, motioning with her head and Luz didn’t need to be told twice. She scooped Amity up into her arms and carried her into the house while Eda closed the door behind them.

Amity clung to Luz and buried her face in the crook of her neck, fighting to regain control of herself. Luz was safe. She should be safe! Why did it feel like someone had their hands around her throat? Her heart was pounding loudly in her ears and her entire body was clenched painfully tight. Blind panic clawed at her mind as painful sobs wracked her body. 

Luz sat with her on Eda’s tattered old sofa, setting Amity in her lap so she could hold her as close as possible. She rocked them gently, unconsciously murmuring little words of comfort to her in Spanish, the way her mother had done whenever Luz had been upset as a kid. She knew Amity had no idea what she was saying but it seemed to be working as her body finally slowly unwound and her sobbing eased into shuddery, uneven breaths. 

When she’d calmed down a little, Luz pulled back and carefully shifted Amity onto the sofa beside her to give her room to breathe. She had to swallow back the tears gathering in her own eyes as she watched her try to gather herself. Seeing her like this was killing Luz.

“I… I’m sorry,” Amity finally stuttered out, taking a deep gulp of air now that she didn’t feel quite so close to flying apart. “I didn’t know where else to go. My parents, they… they kicked me out and I…” She felt another sob bubble up her throat and she buried her face in her hands, fighting not to lose the little bit of control she’d regained. 

Luz latched onto her friend in shock, gathering Amity to her chest. She’d been kicked out? What the hell had happened?!

Eda knelt down in front of them and set her hand gently on Amity’s knee but drew it back immediately when Amity flinched at the touch. Luz gave her a desperate, pleading look for help and Eda stood with a heavy sigh.

“Let’s get you cleaned up, kid. Then you can tell us what happened,” she said, in the gentlest voice Luz had ever heard her use. She watched as Eda moved to the kitchen, gathering things to make something they couldn’t see. 

When King, who had been awoken by the noise, poked his head into the living room, he was instructed to fetch warm water and a towel. He glanced curiously at Luz and Amity huddled closely on the sofa together before scampering off to do as he was told, for once seeming unwilling to argue. 

When he came back he stoically held out a soft, clean towel, which Luz accepted gratefully. She gave the furry little demon a smile as he set a bowl of slightly steaming water on the little table beside the sofa, shoving some old, dusty books out of the way in the process.

“Thanks, King,” she murmured. She pulled back from Amity just enough to look at her and tentatively slid her hands down her friend’s arms to gently pry her hands away from her face. Amity’s eyes were wide with fear and she looked terribly pale. Luz’s heart clenched painfully at the sight.

“Amity, is it ok if I fix you up a bit?” She asked with a sad little smile and a comforting squeeze of her hands. “You’re kinda filthy.”

Amity looked up from her trembling hands, held so gently in Luz’s soft warm ones and inspected herself, startled at what she saw. The sleeves of her Hexide uniform were shredded and there were a few long, thin scratches scattered on her arms and legs. She was also covered in dirt, her forearms and knees muddy from a fall somewhere in the woods that she couldn’t remember. She looked awful. 

Grimacing, she gave a small nod and Luz’s smile softened. She carefully eased the ripped sleeves up Amity’s arms and dipped the towel into the bowl, wringing out the excess water before moving to clean her up. Amity was prepared to wince when Luz set the towel to her arm, but her normally boisterous friend was surprisingly gentle. She followed the soft white cloth with her eyes, watching in numbly as Luz took care of her in a way no one else ever had.

She’d never experienced such tenderness from another person. Never felt so cared for. It was almost overwhelming. Tears swam in her eyes as her emotions swirled, but Amity found herself calming down as Luz worked.

The loud buzzing in her ears faded, her heart finally slowed and the urgent tension flooded out of her. She felt suddenly woozy. Had the world started spinning a little or was that just her? Shutting her eyes against the building dizziness, Amity tried to focus instead on the sound of Luz murmuring and tutting at her worriedly. On the feeling of gentle hands and soft warmth dancing across her skin, clearing away the dirt, grime and lingering fear from her run in the forest.

“Amity?” Luz whispered hesitantly and Amity managed to crack open an eye to see that she had the towel raised to her face. “Is it alright if I…” She trailed off, shifting the towel a little closer, asking permission.

Amity let her eyes drift closed again and managed a weak nod that she regretted instantly, her queasy stomach roiling from the movement. Thankfully she was distracted by the cloth brushing carefully at the dried tears on her cheeks. At the sweat on her forehead and neck. By Luz’s fingers trailing worriedly over her cheek and into her hair to clear away bits of foliage that had gotten tangled there.

Under any other circumstances, this moment would have turned her into an incoherent, blushing mess. After the night she’d had though, Amity couldn’t find the energy to feel anything but appreciation for how much Luz cared about her. The tears that had been steadily building behind her eyes finally began to slip down her cheeks and she heard Luz suck in a small breath. 

“Oh, Amity, did I hurt you? I’m so sorry! Please don’t cry,” Luz said desperately, brushing at the tears on Amity’s cheeks with trembling fingers. She sounded so broken. So worried for her. Amity sniffed pitifully and scrubbed at her eyes with the heel of her palm.

“S’not you…” she murmured, her voice thick with emotion. How could she tell Luz that she was having an emotional meltdown because no one had ever done something like this for her before? No one had ever been there to hold her when she’d been hurt or just had a rotten day. Not since she’d lost Willow as a friend.

Vague memories of the twins trying to comfort her when she’d fallen down lingered somewhere at the back of her mind but they had been so young then and things had never been great after they’d grown up and grown apart.

She'd been so alone for so long.

When she met Luz’s eyes, she saw only empathy there. Of course she didn’t have to explain. Luz understood. Amity sagged into the sofa and let out a soft, shuddery breath. She was still a little dizzy but she felt so much better. Calmer. She reached a tentative hand up to Luz’s and pulled it away from her face, giving her a small, tremulous smile. 

“Thanks, Luz. I think… I’m ok now.” That simple statement flooded Luz with relief and she beamed back at Amity. Eda returned then, with a steaming cup in hand that she carefully passed to Amity while Luz placed the cloth into the bowl of, now murky, water.

“Drink up, kid. It’ll make you feel better,” Eda said. Amity held the cup up to her nose and took a hesitant sniff. It smelled good but Luz eyed the cup suspiciously. Eda was a potioneer by trade after all (when she wasn’t being a swindling con artist or running from the law), so there was no telling what she might have cooked up.

“What is it?” Luz said, levelling Eda with a flat look. She snorted in offense at Luz’s accusatory tone before flopping onto a chair she’d pulled in front of the sofa.

“It’s tea, you numbskull. What did you think it was?” She scoffed indignantly. King, who had just finished taking away the bowl and towel, pulled himself up onto the sofa beside Amity and pointed at Eda with a paw.

“Knowing you it could be anything! I’ve seen what you keep in the pantry,” he sniggered. Amity stared down at the cup in her hands as Eda and King bickered. The warmth of it spread into her fingers and soothed some of the lingering shivering there. Glancing up, she noticed Luz was watching her anxiously so she lifted the cup to take a tentative sip. It was sweet and comforting, settling her swirling stomach almost instantly and she felt the last of the built up tension leave her with a small relaxed sigh.

“See? All better,” Eda said triumphantly before giving Amity a sympathetic look. “You ready to talk, kid?”

Her grip on the cup tightened and Amity took a deep breath to steady herself. It didn’t help.

How was she supposed to tell them? What would they think of her? She glanced at Luz again, mortified at the thought that she might learn the truth about her. A truth she’d been very eager to hide from her friend at all costs. That she was now going to have to tell her. Amity swallowed the lump building in her throat before looking back at Eda, grasping weakly for some sort of deflection.

“I have a _name_. It’s Amity.” Oh sure, be rude to the people helping her, that was nice. Why had she said that? She glanced away, ashamed, but Eda just gave her a patient look.

“While I appreciate the sass, you’re stalling. You’re safe here, kid, but we can’t help you if we don’t know what happened,” she said simply and Amity was glad she didn’t seem to have taken offence. There was no deflecting then. No getting around it. She would have to tell them.

“Sorry,” she mumbled. Deep breath. She could do this. “My parents… they found out something… _bad_ … about me.” Not the most eloquent response but it was something at least. Eda didn’t seem impressed though.

“You wanna elaborate on that?” She asked, brows raising and Amity grimaced. She really, _really_ didn’t. Could she do this again tonight? It hadn’t exactly gone well last time. She looked up when Luz rested a hand on her shoulder and smiled supportively at her. Maybe she could.

She owed it to them to tell them the whole truth, she supposed, after barging into their home with no warning and ruining their quiet evening. She just needed to get the words out. Even if she was terrified.

“My mother found out that I’m…” She started trembling again. Stars, this was so hard. Why did Luz have to be staring at her with those big brown eyes? She could do this. She had to do this! “She found out that I… I like girls.” A deep flush spread across her cheeks as the words spilled from her lips and she couldn’t quite meet Luz’s eye, choosing instead to stare into her tea.

Luz, for her part, was stunned. She would never have suspected that her best friend had been hiding something like that. She knew she could be pretty oblivious sometimes and that she had a tendency to overlook certain things but Luz liked to think she was pretty good about spotting things like this. She was a seasoned fan fiction writer after all, not to mention bisexual herself, so she knew the signs. But she had really had no idea Amity swung that way. 

A light blush bloomed across her cheeks and a glimmer of hope flickered to life under all of her worry and concern.

Amity liked girls.

A little voice in her head began jumping up and down excitedly, waving its arms and screaming the phrase ‘I’m a girl’ as if Amity would somehow notice. She felt instantly guilty at the thought and stamped it down hard. 

Amity was having an awful night. Even now while she was safe with Luz, she’d had to reveal a very private secret. This wasn’t the time for Luz to be focusing on herself. 

She cared too deeply about her friend to be that selfish and she vowed to herself she would do whatever it took to make her feel better. But still, that treacherous little voice hummed quietly at the back of her mind. She might have a chance…

The tension in the room pressed heavily on Amity, so she plowed ahead before anyone could speak and she lost her nerve entirely. 

“It turned into a big argument and father, he… he told me to leave,” she blurted out. Would they send her away too? She had no idea what Eda thought of people like her and she was all but certain that she had just made things, at the very least, incredibly awkward with Luz. Her eyes stung with fresh tears and she took another sip of her tea to distract herself.

“And what exactly is so ‘bad’ about liking girls?” Eda asked, as if she thought it was the most natural thing in the world. Not something that needed to be cured. Something normal. 

Amity’s head snapped up to stare at her in confusion and Eda simply raised an eyebrow at her, waiting for a response.

“I… I don’t know? Father said he had to… to _fix_ me and he…” She was interrupted by the outraged noise that came out of Luz’s mouth and Amity turned to see Luz staring at her with an utterly horrified expression.

“He said _what?!_ ” She half shrieked and Amity felt her already warm cheeks heat up even more at Luz’s angry sputtering on her behalf. Eda held up a hand to stop Luz from building up any more steam though and levelled Amity with a very serious look.

“You listen to me, kid. There is nothing to fix here. There is _nothing_ wrong with you, you got that?” She said firmly. Eda sounded so sure that Amity found herself unable to argue. Luz was nodding vigorously beside her. 

“Your dad sounds like a moron,” Eda continued. “Now normally I’m rather partial to rich morons, they’re my bread and butter. But your father sounds like the kind of moron that doesn’t know a good thing when he sees it and those aren’t useful to anyone. So don’t you listen to a word he says. Got it?”

Amity was dumbstruck by Eda’s open sincerity and by the way Luz had wrapped her hands tightly around her arm in support. They didn’t hate her.

They didn’t think she was broken.

Raw emotion swelled within her again and all she could manage was a weak nod. Tears pricked at her eyes anew and she wondered how there could possibly be any more left in her. Eda’s serious expression softened into something quite comforting.

“Good. Now that we’ve got that straightened out, I’d say we could all use a little sleep,” she said, standing up with a groan to take the empty tea cup from Amity. Cracking her back tiredly, Eda set it in the sink and turned to look at her. “You’re staying here tonight, kiddo. We’ll talk more about this whole mess in the morning.”

Exhausted, Amity murmured a quiet thank you, grateful that she wasn’t being pushed to talk more about the whole mess. Luz, however, had another concern.

She’d been eyeing the bruise forming on Amity’s jaw and the split in her lower lip since her friend had arrived and the sight of them made her ache with worry.

“Eda, can you heal her? Please? She’s hurt!” She cried out, biting her lip anxiously but Eda sighed.

“Sorry, Luz. I hate to leave her like that but it’s late and I’m tapped out for the night,” she said sleepily. She swirled a finger in the air and, to Luz’s dismay, the magic circle popped before it could fully form. Eda swayed a little on the spot, which was a stark reminder for Luz that she had actually been about to go to sleep when Amity arrived and was probably barely able to stand at this point.

Luz deflated sadly, knowing that there was nothing Eda could do when her curse was affecting her like that. With a regretful, apologetic sort of smile, Eda bid them a good night and lifted a squirming King off the sofa.

“Leave them alone, furball. The poor girl needs some space. Luz, make sure she’s comfortable. We can fix her up first thing in the morning,” she called as she made her way into the hall, King struggling under her arm.

“I demand you put me down, witch! Obey me!” His adorable angry squeal was the last thing the girls heard as the two of them disappeared up the stairs. Luz jumped up and nodded after Eda, determined to make sure Amity had everything she needed to feel safe. She turned to see Amity still slumped on the sofa, looking exhausted and reached out a hand to help her up.

“Come on, I’ll get you something clean to wear,” she said, smiling down at her gently. Amity accepted the hand up, swaying a little as she stood and followed Luz to what turned out to be a small bathroom. Luz sat her down on the edge of the tub and backed up to the door.

“Wait here, I’ll be right back,” she said, motioning with her arms for Amity to stay where she was before darting out of the door. She wasn’t gone long and returned with an armful of pale purple shorts and a loose black shirt. Amity accepted the clothes gratefully and stood shakily to change while Luz sped out of the room to give her some privacy.

Alone at last, Amity carefully changed out of her filthy school uniform, trying to focus on anything but what had happened to her that night. She paused as the fresh shirt slipped over her head and fisted her fingers into the hem of the fabric. It was ridiculously soft and smelled familiar. Sort of vaguely lemony. It smelled like Luz.

That thought had her blushing to the tips of her ears and set her heart fluttering. She was being ridiculous. Now was not the time for this! Shaking her head, she patted her cheeks to get rid of that annoying rosy glow and turned to the sink to splash some water on her face. It helped cool her down but, when she looked up into the mirror, she grimaced at what she saw.

She looked paler than usual. Almost sickly. Her eyes were red and raw from crying, her hair was a mess and, worst of all, there was an ugly bruise forming across one side of her jaw. It wasn’t big, thankfully, but it looked awful next to the dark red split in her lower lip. 

Huffing at her own face in dismay, Amity turned her eyes down to the sink. She looked terrible. She wished Luz hadn’t seen any of it. A simple comb was resting on the counter next to the sink and she decided that the least she could do was fix her hair a little.

It wasn’t easy going. Her hair band had gotten tangled and she had to fight to remove it, choosing to leave it out when she finally managed to comb the knots out of her hair. When she was done, she scrubbed her face with cool water for good measure, hoping she looked at least a little better. She certainly _felt_ a lot better. 

Still… her eyes caught the green hair in the mirror and she looked away, running her hands through it self-consciously. Best not to dwell on that tonight. Just another thing _not_ to think about. Pushing the dyed strands away from her face, Amity took a deep breath to steady herself and left the bathroom to meet Luz back in the living room. She found the girl in the process of covering the entire sofa with pillows and blankets like she was trying to build a nest and Amity couldn’t help but find the gesture sweet. Typical kind idiot. 

“Don’t you think that’s a bit much?” She asked, smiling at her lightly. Luz turned to answer and froze, her breath catching in her throat. Amity looked absolutely _adorable_ in her clothes... and she had let her hair down! She’d never seen it like that before. It fell in her face and around her pointed ears so prettily that it set Luz’s heart thudding. She had to force herself not to stare and smiled at her brightly to cover her blush.

“Nope! I dunno about you but when I’ve had a bad day, I like to curl up under the covers and snuggle with a bunch of pillows. It really helps!” She turned to fluff up said pillows before motioning for Amity to sit. “Hugging stuffed animals works too but King was sleeping on his stash and I didn’t really wanna lose a hand,” she added wearily. 

Amity giggled at that and Luz hit her with another dazzling smile, delighted that she had made her feel better. She tilted her head as she looked Amity over and her smile melted into a lopsided grin that made Amity’s stomach do little flips. Feeling bold, Luz decided to push her luck just a little bit. 

“I like your hair down like that. It’s really pretty,” she said and Amity felt heat bloom in her cheeks all over again. She stammered out a shy thank you, fiddling awkwardly with the loose wisps of green hair around her ears. Luz had called her pretty. Well, she’d called her _hair_ pretty but that was a part of Amity! Luz thought a part of Amity was pretty! Distracted by the internal screaming in her head, she failed to notice Luz was blushing right along with her.

Choosing not to comment on her friend’s adorably pink face and how it made Luz giddy inside, she moved to turn out the lights while Amity got settled on the sofa. She needed to control herself. Focus on making Amity smile and not on how cute her smile was!

As Luz walked back past her, Amity sank into the pillows and pulled one of the many blankets over herself. She thought she heard Luz say something in the dark but the second her head hit the pillow she was struck with a wave of weariness that disoriented her enough to miss it. 

Had she said goodnight? She wasn’t in the room anymore so she’d probably headed up to bed and Amity felt bad for not replying. Laying there staring quietly at the ceiling, Amity’s mind raced with everything that had happened. She was desperately tired but, with her thoughts swirling the way they were, She was sure she’d never get to sleep.

In this strange, dark house with its shadowy corners and unfamiliar sounds, she felt small and scared. Turning to face the back of the sofa, she curled in on herself, hiding from the dark like a child. She huddled under the blanket and squeezed her eyes shut against the shiver that ran up her spine. She’d been ok a minute ago, now she just felt alone.

Distracted by the tight ache that seemed to be twisting up her throat, it took Amity a second to recognize the sound of footsteps coming into the room. She peaked an eye open and carefully looked over her shoulder to spot a familiar little ball of light bouncing merrily through the air. Turning, she pushed herself up and watched as Luz set her sleeping bag and pillow down on the ground beside the sofa before casually plopping down on top of them. Relief at not being alone flooded Amity but she frowned at her friend.

“Luz, what are you doing?” She asked curiously and Luz grinned at her.

“I said I'd be right back, remember? I figured you could use some company. This place can be kinda creepy at night if you’re not used to it,” she replied brightly. Oh, there was that damn fluttering again. Amity huffed and shook her head.

“You really don’t have to do that. Won’t you be uncomfortable down there?” She asked, but Luz just shrugged in that carefree way of hers, seemingly unconcerned.

“I already sleep on the floor. No big deal if I do it down here instead and this way you don’t have to be alone. If that’s ok…” She added hesitantly, not wanting to overstep when Amity had already had a bad night. But her friend just smiled gratefully at her and lay back down into the nest Luz had made for her.

“Thanks, Luz. This does make me feel a bit better,” Amity murmured happily. Luz’s smile grew and flopped onto her back so she could look up at Amity. As she moved, Amity noticed her witch light shift along with her. She followed the little glowing ball with her eyes and found herself marveling at Luz’s strange magic.

“I still can’t believe you figured out how to do magic like that,” she said, slightly awed. Luz had fought all odds and done something everyone had told her was impossible. It was deeply impressive and Amity still found herself in awe of Luz’s ingenuity.

“I’ve shown you how it works, right?” She asked, tilting her head up to look fondly at the little light as well. She had of course, but Amity loved seeing her do it anyway. Luz sat up again and pulled a notebook out from under her pillow, along with the gem-topped pen that she always used. She’d made a habit of keeping them on her at all times, just in case.

She set about drawing more light glyphs as Amity propped herself up on her forearms to watch. Each carefully drawn glyph curled the paper into a ball that floated up to bounce in the air above them. It wasn’t the first time she’d seen Luz do it. Heck, she’d seen her do far more impressive things with her glyphs, but she couldn’t look away. It was fascinating. 

Amity watched the dozen or so little lights hover around them, their warm glow dancing around the room and a thought struck her. This was kind of romantic. Her eyes drifted down to Luz and watched as the light played across her cheeks, brightened her eyes and lit little flecks of gold into her dark, chocolatey hair. She’d never seen anything so beautiful. _Crap_.

Heat spread up Amity’s neck and across her cheeks, sending flaming hot red to her ears. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end. Had her mouth been that dry a second ago? Oh stars, why. Why was she _like_ this? She couldn’t take much more of this tonight or she would implode, she just knew it. She’d been on the worst emotional rollercoaster of her life and she wanted _off_. Amity prayed desperately that the room was too dark for Luz to see her dumb red face.

She was so busy panicking over her own stupid, gay thoughts that it took Amity a minute to notice Luz had stopped drawing. She was staring down at her notepad with a hesitant frown, jaw working like she wanted to say something but didn’t know how. Her hesitation lasted long enough that Amity’s worry overrode her embarrassment and shed reached a hesitant hand towards her obviously nervous friend. Just as she was about to call out to get her attention, Luz spoke.

“Amity, would it be ok if… I asked how your parents found out?” Luz looked up at her, clearly worried that she’d crossed a line by asking and Amity stared back in surprise. She hadn’t known what to expect but it certainly hadn’t been _that_. Would telling her reveal too much? Maybe if she just phrased it vaguely…

“My mother came in when I was writing about… someone in my diary,” she said haltingly. She flushed and swallowed hard. Well, that had been smooth. Luz didn’t seem bothered by the cagey response though, so she continued. “She saw some of the things I’d written and then she took it and read it all. After that, she gave it to my father and…” She shrugged helplessly.

Luz knew enough to piece together what had happened next. She grimaced up at her friend and tilted her head.

“ _Wow_ , what is it with your family and reading your diary?” She asked, sounding so offended on her behalf that Amity couldn’t help but smile. She certainly had a point. “I’m so sorry your parents are such jerks. I don’t get why anyone wouldn’t want you around! Do they not realize how _awesome_ you are?” She cried out seriously, her fingers curling as if the answer would somehow drop into her hands. Luz seemed so genuinely certain that she was right that Amity’s smile bloomed into a laugh and she didn’t even care that her cheeks were pink.

Luz grinned up at her and reveled in having cheered Amity up. She loved making her laugh. _Really_ laugh. Not a polite titter or a measured chuckle. A loud, free, openly happy laugh that made her snort just a little, though Amity would always deny that she had. It was the sweetest sound Luz had ever heard and she delighted in being the only person that seemed to bring it out in her. She was pretty sure Amity needed it more than most too; her life always seemed so stressful to Luz.

She hesitated a moment, not wanting to ruin her friend’s good mood, but the curiosity was eating at her. Had been for a whole month! She just _had_ to ask.

“So… were you writing about the person you wanted to invite to Grom?” The bright blush that spread across Amity’s face made Luz feel instantly bad and she blanched. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to embarrass you. I mean, I already know it was a girl but you don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to.” 

She paused, chewing the inside of her cheek nervously before giving Amity a small shy grin. It seemed only fair that Amity got to know about her secret, since Luz had learned about Amity’s.

“If it helps… I like girls too.”

Amity froze and she stared at Luz in shock.

“You... you do?” She asked, flabbergasted. The blush that darkened Luz’s cheeks did things to Amity’s brain and she struggled to focus as Luz gave a little shrug.

“Well I’ve liked both before. There was this one guy when I first got to the Boiling Isles, but he turned out to be a creepy puppet monster and I stabbed him right in his pecs,” Luz said, emphatically acting out the action with a jab of her arm. Amity did a double take at that.

“Wait… _what?”_ She asked incredulously. Had she heard that right? Luz laughed happily at her clear confusion. Amity was so fun to mess with sometimes.

“ _Long_ story. Anyway, that was only for like, a day. I’ve been noticing… someone else, for a while now.” The shy tilt to her head and the way she had glanced away made Amity’s heart leap into her throat. Luz had a crush on someone. 

‘ _That’s what friends do.’_

She had a crush on someone _else_. 

A disappointed lump lodged itself painfully in her throat and Amity had to work hard to hold back the warmth building behind her eyes. Of course Luz liked someone else. Amity had been fooling herself to ever hope the girl would like someone as cruel and broken as her. She should be grateful she was even lucky enough to be Luz’s friend after everything she’d done. Putting on what she hoped was a brave face, Amity smiled at Luz weakly before she spoke.

“Ok first off, don’t think you’re getting out of telling me that story at some point, but… to be honest, I don’t think I’m ready to tell anyone about the note yet,” she murmured, carefully avoiding Luz’s eyes and she was relieved when Luz didn’t pry any further. She didn’t think she could handle Luz actually rejecting her just then, if ever.

“That’s ok. Sorry if I’m making you uncomfortable. I’m just really curious who was awesome enough to catch your eye,” Luz said, giving her that lopsided little grin that she so loved. Amity blushed and she smiled, despite her crushing disappointment.

“You could never make me uncomfortable, Luz. You’re my best friend,” she said, with all the sincerity she could muster. It was the absolute truth after all.

Luz’s face brightened like one of her little witch lights and she let out a happy squeal, launching herself up to pull Amity into a warm, tender embrace. She’d been so eager about it that Luz had half joined Amity on the sofa. She gushed at Amity’s sweet sentiment, nuzzling against her cheek and it was all Amity could do not to burst into flames as she returned the embrace. She let out a sudden pained hiss when Luz’s snuggling nudged the bruising on her jaw and Luz instantly jumped back, holding her at arm’s length.

“Oh no! Amity, I’m so sorry! I should have been more careful!” She apologized frantically, but Amity just stared at her, half dazed. That had been a _wonderful_ hug. Her mouth tilted into a small smile as she watched her friend panic and stopped her with a gentle pat on the arm.

“It’s ok, it was worth it,” she said happily and Luz’s eyes widened like a puppy dog. She clutched at her chest and let out a long, drawn out “awe” that made Amity giggle. Her laugh somehow turned into a yawn and she felt her earlier exhaustion rear its head. Stars, she wanted to sleep for a whole _year_. Luz noticed and grinned at her.

“We should probably get some sleep. You must be really tired,” she said sympathetically and Amity readily agreed. It had been a long, _long_ night. 

She eased herself down onto her front and folded her arms under her pillow, letting her eyes drift shut while Luz snuffed out the witch lights. With the room plunged into darkness, she crawled into her sleeping bag and settled down as well. A skittering shuffling noise from somewhere in the room made Amity’s ears twitch and her eyes snapped open to look uneasily around the darkened living room.

“Um… Luz?” She whispered nervously. “You weren’t serious when you mentioned ‘night critters’ before, right?” Luz let out a very loud snort and giggled gleefully.

“Oh my gosh, Amity, I was kidding! That was ages ago, how do you even remember that? You’re adorable!” She grinned madly up at her friend, very much enjoying the glowering look Amity was giving her, pink cheeks and all.

“Not funny, Luz,” she grumbled. Luz begged to differ.

“If it makes you feel better, here.” She reached up to fish Amity’s hand out from under her pillow and tugged it down, holding it gently as she settled back into her own pillows. An embarrassed flush spread across Amity’s face in an instant. Would this torture never end? How did Luz do things like that so casually? Like it was the easiest thing in the world to just… hold a girl’s hand. Luz seemed totally at ease though and somehow that helped Amity relax.

Luz was quiet for a moment, frowning thoughtfully as she idly played with Amity’s fingers. While she was mulling over her next words, Amity was doing her best to stay calm and not yank her hand away from those warm fingers that were lightly tugging at her own. Luz Noceda had no idea she was killing her best friend. Why did her hands have to feel so nice? Had Luz noticed how small Amity’s hands were compared to her own? Amity had definitely noticed. It was hard not to when Luz so easily curled her fingers around Amity’s entire hand.

“I can’t even imagine how awful tonight must have been for you,” Luz said at last, her voice low and sad. “I really am sorry you had to go through all this.” Their eyes met and Amity could see how truly upset Luz was. It sobered Amity’s mindless internal screaming instantly. Apparently they weren’t quite done talking.

“It’s ok,” she said quietly. It wasn’t really, but Amity was so very tired and she would say anything to reassure Luz at this point.

“No it’s _not_. Your parents were awful to you. You didn’t deserve any of that!” Luz’s fingers tightened around Amity’s and she was touched by the tears in her eyes. Luz really cared about her. Amity smiled sadly.

“Don’t get me wrong, this has been, by far, the worst night of my life. But it was probably gonna happen eventually. My parents have always been awful, controlling jerks and I don’t think they ever would have accepted that I’m…” She found herself tripping over the word and bit her tongue. It was still so hard to admit out loud, even though she knew Luz already knew. She spotted the understanding little smile Luz was giving her and sighed, deciding to just move on. Luz knew what she’d meant. 

“I have no idea what I’m gonna do or… or where I’m gonna go, but at least I’m free of that place.” That thought made Amity feel a whole lot better all of a sudden. Luz gave her a playfully serious look and pressed Amity’s hand to her heart.

“Well, you’re safe here and I promise I won’t let those jerks touch you ever again. As your sworn knight, it is my duty to protect my queen!” She declared, voice tilted in a silly accent Amity couldn’t place and Amity was sure she would absolutely melt. That had been the sweetest thing she’d ever heard and wait... Had Luz seriously just called Amity her _queen?_

Don’t overreact. Friends.

Instead of wallowing in that hopeless thought, she chose to smile at Luz and play along instead. She dipped her head in as close to a regal curtsey as she could get while lying belly-down on a sofa with her hand trapped in Luz’s.

“Thank you, my _fearless champion_ ,” she said haughty and they giggled at each other’s silliness. When they eventually fell asleep, Amity had almost forgotten that she’d had an awful nightmare of a night because they were still holding hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus freeform observations and thoughts on the Blight family dynamic: in a house where affection is earned through achievements instead of given freely and unconditionally and appearances are held in such high regard, I imagine there is very little in the way of terms of endearment. This is why Amity only ever refers to her parents as mother and father. I doubt the words mom and dad saw much use in Blight Manor unless it was pretty sarcastic. And never to their faces coz yeesh.  
> Edric and Emira are a unit together. They were born and raised as a pair and I can see that aiding in their ability to rebel and still get away with it. They had each other to play and grow with and that solidarity and companionship probably helped them see how stupid their parents' ideas were so they just ignore them and do their own thing instead. Being able to illusion bs your way out of trouble probably helped. They're also the older, golden prodigy children, if what Amity has said about them in the show is true. Their apparent lack of responsibilities, or at least their lack of fucks to give about them, gave us the free-spirited, fun-loving, sometimes unnecessarily cruel twins we meet at the library. They're so used to not having to live with the consequences of their actions that they don't think about what their pranks must be doing to Amity.  
> Poor Amity grew up alone in the house with no support structure and all the pressures her parents couldn't apply to the twins heaped onto her very young shoulders. With no one around to show her affection the way the twins do for each other and with the twins actively ganging up on her at times, she clung to any tiny shred affection she could get from her parents. And this had to be earned through diligent study and effort. This led to the Amity we see at the start of the show. Tense, quick to anger, bitter about her siblings, their relationship and apparent freedom from the same stresses she has. Eager to prove herself because its the only way she knows how to receive what she perceives as familial love. Feels bad man. Thank goodness for Luz Noceda and her unending supply of unconditional love and affection.


	3. A Family of Strays

The sun was slanting through one of the little windows and it hit Amity at just the right angle to wake her. She blinked sleepily, let out a tiny groan and turned her face into her pillow to escape the annoying little beam in her eye. Her bed felt weird. Why were there so many blankets and pillows everywhere? Lifting her head up just enough to look around, she realized she wasn’t in her bed at all. She was on a sofa, her arm hanging over the side. She followed it lazily with her eyes, still only half awake and found a sleeping Luz on the other end, their fingers laced together. And then it all came flooding back.

Her parents had found out. They’d fought and she’d run. She was in the Owl House. Luz was _holding her hand!_ A bright flush spread across her cheeks and, despite all the heartache from the night before, she found herself grinning. They must have slept like this all night. Luz hadn’t left her. She gazed down at her sleeping friend and her heart fluttered giddily. She looked so peaceful when she slept. Was it creepy that she wanted to watch forever? Probably, but she didn’t really care. She rested her head on her free arm and smiled down at Luz dreamily, content to do just that. Someone quietly clearing a throat snapped her back to reality and she looked up, mortified, to find Eda smirking at her from the kitchen.

The Owl Lady was leaning against the dining table, a mug in hand. She took a long, drawn out sip as she eyed Amity with a smug smirk over what must have been her morning coffee. Amity felt the light blush on her cheeks run up her face and down her neck. Oh god she’d just been caught mooning over Luz like a love-sick puppy.

“You look a little red there, kid. Feeling ok?” It was an innocent enough question but the _tone_! Eda just grinned and sipped her coffee again. She glanced down at Luz and then moved away from the table, towards them. “She looks like she’s gonna be out for a while. Get some more rest for now, I have a feeling that little chat we need to have is going to be a rough one for you,” she said.

There was a small noise from the doorway leading to the hall and Amity spotted King stomping sleepily into the room, dragging a blanket and a stuffed animal along behind him. She watched as he silently flipped both up onto her, scrambled his way up and then settled on the small of her back in a little ball, stuffed animal and blanket clutched close. She could hear him grunt something about all the best napping spots being taken and then he was asleep and snoring in seconds. Eda snorted.

“Huh, didn’t see that coming. Well you’re definitely stuck there now, kid. We’ll talk when everyone’s awake,” she laughed quietly, leaving to go upstairs somewhere. Amity watched the doorway for a moment to make sure Eda was really gone, before glancing down at Luz again. She was still fast asleep, her mouth parted slightly. Was that a tiny line of drool? She held back an amused snort and smiled at her fondly. God, how was she so damn cute?

Figuring Eda was probably right, Amity set her head back on the pillow and let her eyes drift shut. A little more sleep would be nice.

When she woke again, it was to the quiet clink of dishes being washed in the kitchen. The room was a little brighter and she felt safe and relaxed. She blinked blearily and her eyes drifted down to find Luz again. Only she was awake this time and she’d clearly been watching Amity sleep. The content little grin on her face spread when she saw Amity was awake and Amity felt her face heat up.

“Good morning,” Luz said and it was so bright and bubbly sounding that Amity found herself forgetting to be embarrassed and smiled.

“Hi,” she replied, trying not to sound too breathless. Luz was watching her carefully from the floor.

“How are you feeling?” She asked, a concerned tilt to her brows. Good question. Amity actually felt pretty good all things considered. It had been a really bad night but things had ended on such a sweet note and she was warm and comfortable and Luz was _still_ holding her hand.

“I’m good,” she said, a little surprised by how true it was. She knew it wouldn’t last very long. They still had to have a serious talk with Eda very soon but, for now, she was ok. Luz’s smile widened noticeably and that made Amity happy too.

Something shifted around on her back and she pushed herself up on her free arm to twist around far enough to look at King without unseating him. He was glowering at them from under his blanket. He whipped a paw at them, pointing in what Amity guessed was meant to be an intimidating pose. He was clutching a stuffed animal in his other arm though, so it was really just adorable.

“Hey! The King of Demons demands silence! I’m trying to nap over here!” He grumped. Luz let out a delighted cry and sat straight up, leaning over Amity’s back to scoop King into her arms and cuddle him mercilessly.

“Awe, were you protecting Amity while she was sleeping? Who’s the sweetest little demon in the Boiling Isles? I think it’s you, _mi pequeño gordito!”_ She cooed happily, snuggling the little furry demon who was trying to act indignant but it was ruined by his happy giggling. Luz had used that language again and once again it did things to Amity’s heart. Something about the sound of it sent shivers down her spine and warmed her cheeks. She’d never heard anything like it before meeting Luz and she wanted to hear more. It didn’t help that Luz was basically lying across her back while she cuddled King.

Eda walked into the room, drawn by the noise, and snorted at King’s apparent suffering. “Oh good, everyone’s awake,” she said, drying her hands on a towel that she tossed carelessly behind her. “Not to ruin the good mood but if you’re ready to talk, now is probably a good time for you to tell us exactly what happened last night.”

Luz stilled and drew back, King still in her arms. She and Amity glanced at each other and Amity just gave her a helpless shrug. She hated to end the adorable display but it was as good a time as any. Amity shifted so that she was sitting and Luz immediately joined her, plopping herself down right beside her so that their shoulders were just about grazing. She noticed Eda giving her a look as she pulled up the same chair from the night before, one curved brow arched and she flushed a little. Luz was being extra affectionate and with how Eda had seen them holding hands, Amity worried she would get the wrong idea. She valiantly ignored how much she wanted for it to be the _right_ idea.

King leapt out of Luz’s arms and crawled over to plop himself in Amity’s lap instead, grumbling under his breath and fooling absolutely no one. Amity smiled down at him and just wrapped him up in her arms, drawing a child-like giggle from him. He was like an oversized, grumpy stuffed animal and she found cuddling him comforting.

Luz was surprised and delighted by King’s apparent desire to comfort Amity. The little guy had come a long way from feeling so insecure about friendships that he felt the need to literally shrink people to give him alone time with Luz. He might be too stubborn to admit that he wanted to make Amity feel better, but his actions were enough and it was heart-meltingly sweet.

Now that they were all settled, Amity found herself tensing up a little at the prospect of having to relive the previous night. She felt calm enough and no longer had that frantic fear clamping up her throat but she still wasn’t looking forward to it. Eda noticed her hesitation.

“It’s ok, take your time,” she said patiently. Amity took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It helped.

“What do you want to know?” She had no idea how to start. Asking was just easier.

“How about we start with what happened to your face?” Eda asked gently and Amity grimaced. Ok maybe it wasn’t easier to ask. She glanced down and away, feeling uncomfortable heat prick the corners of her eyes as the memory pushed to the front of her mind. The tears were starting early today apparently.

“My family is… they have a lot of strict expectations. They weren’t happy about me not wanting to marry a man for the sake of the family reputation and father was saying such _awful_ things about...” She froze, mouth clamped shut as she realized what she’d been about to say and her eyes darted nervously to Luz, who was watching her with concern. She pressed her lips together and exhaled through her nose. That had been too close. “A-anyway I kind of snapped and I yelled at him. A lot. That’s when he…” She trailed off, still not quite able to believe it had happened at all, despite the evidence on her face. The room was deathly silent. Until Luz made a dismayed sound in the back of her throat.

“Your _dad_ hit you?! Amity…” Without a moment’s thought, Luz threw her arms around Amity and pulled her in for a tight hug that Amity was very grateful for. She didn’t care that her cheek was being smooshed into Luz’s shoulder or that King was probably being a little bit crushed between them. She needed a hug.

She glanced over Luz’s arm to see Eda frowning in concern. “Has something like this ever happened before?” She asked carefully. Amity felt Luz stiffen, waiting for the answer too and she sank into her a little more.

“No, he’s… he’s never done that before. It came out of nowhere. My parents have always been harsh but they’ve never hurt me like _that_ ,” she murmured and sighed quietly when Luz gave her a comforting squeeze.

“But they _have_ hurt you,” Eda stated. It hadn’t been a question. Amity had no idea what to say to that. It was true. They had. Just mentally and emotionally.

“They threatened Willow’s spot at Hexide so that they could force Amity to stop being her friend. She was just a little kid!” Luz said darkly. The venom in her voice surprised Amity. She had never heard Luz sound so furious before. It hurt to think the normally happy girl was so upset by all of this but Amity appreciated that she cared that much.

“Well, yes I guess that’s a good example,” she agreed. “They did stuff like that a lot actually.” Eda’s frown deepened and she crossed her arms, leaning back in her chair.

“Your family sounds like a real piece of work,” she said, her voice laced with disdain. Amity could only shrug in agreement from within Luz’s arms. She felt King squirming a little and reluctantly pulled away from Luz so she could look down at the little guy. He stood up on her lap and thrust his paws into the air angrily.

“Don’t worry, cupcake crusher, you’re an official part of the boo-boo buddies club now! Your fellow members will exact revenge upon your enemies. Cruel, unfeeling revenge! He will kneel before the King of Demons!” He shouted, his voice rising with glee and his eyes darkening at the thought of the carnage. King had to be the cutest demon she’d ever seen.

“Right!” Luz agreed loudly. “Boo-boo buddies for life!” She and King shared a very serious high five and Amity couldn’t stop herself. She laughed out loud and tugged King back down into her arms.

“Thank you, but you don’t need to do that,” she said, chuckling at the ridiculous pair. “He’s not worth it. Besides, I already kind of unintentionally used an abomination to get him back.” Eda perked up at that.

“You attacked one of the hoity-toity upper crusts with an abomination?” She asked, looking at Amity with impressed respect. “A runaway and a criminal. I like this girl’s style. You’ve got good taste, kid,” she added, smirking at Luz who grinned at her widely.

“I know right?” She agreed. A bubble of laughter burst out of her and Amity found herself blushing under all of the genuine praise. She’d never been showered with so much of it before. She rubbed at her neck self-consciously and a winced when her hand grazed the bruise on her jaw. Oh right. She’d forgotten that was there. Eda saw though and sat forward in her chair.

“Let’s get you fixed up before we talk about anymore plots of revenge, shall we? That looks like it smarts,” she said sympathetically. It didn’t really, not unless she touched it; but Amity was glad to be rid of it. It was an unpleasant reminder of the worst night she’d ever had. Eda stood and stepped closer, bending over a little to get a better view.

“May I?” She asked, reaching up to Amity’s chin but not quite touching her. She appreciated the sentiment and smiled lightly, giving Eda a nod. The Owl Lady tilted Amity’s head up and to the side, peering at her bruise and lip closely. She let out a small ‘hmm’ and smiled, satisfied with what she’d seen.

“It doesn’t look too bad, just a little bruise and a fat lip. Easy enough to fix,” she said, stepping back and letting Amity relax her head back down. Her first instinct was to be indignant at the choice of phrasing but she ignored it. Eda never seemed to mean anything cruel by what she said. She just liked to tease and banter with King and Luz, and now her apparently.

It was a nice change of pace for Amity, watching the three of them good-naturedly ribbing each other and laughing together. She enjoyed the friendly, cheeky spirit behind it all, even if it did make her blush sometimes. Was this what normal families were like? The thought tugged at her heart and she felt an old, familiar longing well up inside her. She thought of Edric and Emira and suddenly missed them terribly. Had they noticed she was missing? Would they care? Things had been better between them ever since the incident at the library but she still sometimes felt unsure. She wondered when, if ever, she would be able to see either of them again.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Eda tried stepping towards her to draw the healing spell circle but Luz was leaning in closely and King was still on her lap. The two of them were blocking her in a little bit. Eda huffed at them in annoyance.

“Would the two of you mind?” She asked expectantly. Neither moved. Luz only leaned in closer, her face all twisted.

“It’s not going to hurt is it?” She asked anxiously.

“Relax, Luz, I know what I’m doing,” Eda scoffed, rolling her eyes. Luz let out a little whine and wrapped her hands almost possessively around one of Amity’s. Oh that damn fluttering again. Amity’s cheeks lit up again and she looked up at Eda nervously. It was very sweet that she didn’t want Amity to get any more hurt but Luz wasn’t exactly helping here. Eda was eyeing them suspiciously and she straightened up, setting her hands on her hips.

“Did something happen last night that you two want to tell me about?” She asked, her serious tone softened by the smirk tugging at her mouth. Luz let out an embarrassed squawk and they were both desperately sputtering denials but Eda’s smirk only grew.

“Uh _huh_. Going to pretend I believe that,” she said, chuckling at their very obvious discomfort. Luz let out a groan.

“Really, Eda. She’s my _friend_ , I just don’t want her to get any more hurt!” She said desperately and Eda took pity on her. Sort of.

“ _Sure_. Well you’re gonna have to give me some room if you want me to heal your _friend_ , Luz,” she said, the slight smug edge to her voice making Amity’s red cheeks only grow hotter. Luz backed up to give her space, defiantly holding onto Amity’s hand and glowering at Eda, silently daring her to say something about it. Amity just wanted to sink into the sofa cushions and disappear.

“That’ll do, I suppose,” Eda said, not quite able to hide the laughter in her voice. She looked down at King and raised an eyebrow. “That means you too, King. The two of you are smothering the poor girl,” she added and unceremoniously plucked him from Amity’s lap, dumping him onto the floor. His high pitched angry squeal made Eda snicker, muttering “so tiny, so cute,” under breath.

With Amity no longer surrounded by overprotective idiots, Eda leaned down and drew a large blue spell circle just in front of her chest. As it closed, it twisted itself into a ribbon that raced down to Amity’s feet. It spiraled up her body and she could feel all the little scrapes vanish as it passed, leaving no trace they were ever there. The light bruising on her jaw and her split lip both healed instantly as well and she let out a little breath of relief. She instantly felt a million times better.

“See?” Eda said to an awed Luz. “You were worried about nothing you big baby.” Luz wasn’t listening though. She was staring at Amity’s freshly healed face with wide, wondering eyes.

“Magic is so awesome,” she said, grinning widely. Amity snorted at her friend and rolled her eyes.

“Dork,” she laughed. Luz only grinned wider and shrugged, gladly accepting the title. She shifted closer so that she could put a protective arm around Amity and King took that as his opportunity to hop back up onto her lap. Apparently they were determined to smother her a bit more. She didn’t mind in the least.

“You’re being awfully cuddly for a demon,” Eda said, smirking down at King who folded his little arms and turned his head away defiantly.

“She makes for an excellent throne!” He declared huffily.

“ _Right_ , it’s definitely not because you’ve grown a soft spot for her,” she snorted, sitting back down in her chair again. “So, where were we?”

“Revenge!” King shouted out imperiously. Eda actually nodded and leaned back.

“That’s right, we were discussing your parents. What happened after this?” She asked, motioning to Amity’s face. The memory of the next parts of the night made Amity shudder and she was very glad that Luz and King were both wrapped around her at this point.

“He said he was going to send me to the Conformatorium,” she said quietly. It disturbed her how small her voice had sounded just then. The thought of it still terrified her. She swallowed the lump in her throat and continued. There was just a little left. She could do this. “He was going to lock me in my room. That’s when I summoned the abomination and he yelled at me to leave. He was so _angry_ …” She scrunched her eyes up, trying not to cry. She’d done enough of that the night before. She gratefully leaned into Luz when the girl stiffened and suddenly pulled her much closer.

Eda sat silently in her chair and stared at Amity in horror. “He wanted to send you to…” Her voice faded and Amity looked up to meet her eyes. Eda’s face was set in a grim frown. “Well you can’t go back home, that much is clear. I’m not about to send you back there so your parents can try and ‘convert’ you,” she spat out, sounding disgusted at the very idea. Even Luz looked beyond horrified and there was no way she had been on the Isles long enough to have heard those particular rumors about the Conformatorium. Amity wandered if they had something similar on Earth because Luz looked legitimately frightened at the word ‘convert’ and was holding Amity like she thought she might vanish into thin air if she didn’t cling to her tight enough.

“I don’t have anywhere else to go though. I’ll have to go back won’t I?” She asked timidly. It was the last thing she ever wanted to do but what choice did she have? Camp out at Hexide forever? Or in her little library safe room? Live on the street, maybe? The idea certainly appealed to her more than Blight Manor. She felt her eyes moisten and she swallowed again, hard.

“Eda she can’t go back to Blight Manor!” Luz yelped, her voice cracking with desperation.

“Don’t worry, Luz, she won’t,” she said seriously, turning to look down at Amity. “You just escaped one mad house, kid, I’m not gonna make you go back there so they can send you to another one.”

“Where do you think she is right now?” King scoffed and Amity cracked a small smile. Just like that, the thick tension in the room was broken.

“Can it, Mr. Wiggles,” Eda said, rolling her eyes before turning them back to Amity and smiling at her. “You know, I try not to make a habit of picking up strays but you’ve got moxie. I like that. You’re just the sort of witch we’re looking for around here. And these two knuckleheads clearly like you,” she added, motioning to Luz and King.

“I dooooon’t! She’s mean!” Hooty’s grating voice called from the other side of the closed door and Amity grimaced at the sound.

“Your opinions don’t count, Hooty! Can you idiots stop interrupting me? I’m trying to do a thing here,” she groaned.

“Rude! Geez! Hoot!” Hooty’s voice faded and it was blissfully quiet again. Eda pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, grumbling good-naturedly about her pack of morons.

“Anyway, like I was trying to say,” she said pausing to glare around the room in case anyone else wanted to pipe up. When no one did she continued. “I’m happy to help you with any other arrangements if you’d prefer, but if you’re up for it, you’re welcome to stay here. I can’t do much for you in the way of the law, what with my being a wanted criminal and all, but I can offer you a safe place to… well a _place_ to stay.” Amity was floored. She could stay here? Hope bloomed in her chest and she sat up out of Luz’s arms, surprised at the offer.

“Eda! For real? You’re gonna let her stay?” Luz asked excitedly. She looked ecstatic and turned to Amity with a huge grin on her face. Eda just smiled at her warmly.

“Only if she wants to. I think she’s had enough of people dictating her choices to her, right?” She asked, giving Amity a knowing look. Amity had no words, too shocked to reply as she stared at Eda in wide-eyed surprise. Where was the famed ‘Evil Owl Lady’ she’d heard so much about from her parents and their friends in the Emperor's Coven? Eda was offering her something she’d never dreamed of having. A real home. Not a dark, lonely manor with empty quiet rooms and cold glowering looks. A warm, cozy house filled with laughter and affection and Luz. She worried though, that her being here would complicate things for Eda.

“But… my parents could try to make things difficult for you. I don’t want to cause you any more trouble,” she said hesitantly.

“Bah, they’d have to find me first. I’ve hidden from the Emperor for years, your parent’s don’t stand a chance. Besides, you can’t possibly be any more trouble than this one,” she exclaimed, nodding at Luz, who laughed and gave a guilty little shrug. She'd definitely caused plenty of trouble since moving into the Owl House.

"I... I don't have any money," Amity added quietly. Why would anyone offer to take her in like this for nothing? Surely she'd need to pay rent or something along those lines and she hadn't exactly had time to pack anything when she'd left. Eda snorted and folded her arms, leaning back in her chair.

“Eh, what’s one more freeloader to add to the pile? Maybe you can keep these two idiots out of my hair while I’m working,” she said, casually shrugging a shoulder. "You don't need to worry about the details, kid. I know your track record with adults hasn't been great recently, but you're too young to have to worry about all of this. Let me handle it."

“What do you say, Amity? You could join the Bad Girl Coven!” Luz said giddily, leaning in and looking at her eagerly. Overwhelmed by Eda’s generosity and kind gesture, Amity had the sudden urge to hug her. So she did, unashamedly. She set King hastily onto the cushions beside her and threw herself into Eda’s arms, hugging her for all she was worth.

“Thank you…” she whispered breathlessly into Eda’s shoulder, her voice shaking with emotion. Luz gave an excited “yes!” She was jumping excitedly next to the sofa and grinning from ear to ear. Eda cleared her throat and gave Amity an awkward pat on the head.

“Great, another hugger,” she chuckled. “Seems like we’ve got a deal, Amity.” She sat back on the sofa and wiped at the tears that had gathered in her eyes, smiling happily. Luz flopped down next to her, landing on her knees and bouncing excitedly. The sight made Amity laugh and the two of them grinned at each other. Eda turned serious at this and leveled them both with a look.

“I do have one rule, though. No _funny business_ under my roof, got it?” She said, waving a finger between Luz and Amity. They both froze and went several shades of red each. There was no mistaking what she’d meant. It was that knowing tone again. Luz made a strangled sound and they looked at Eda in embarrassed horror, mouths agape.

“Eda!” Luz croaked indignantly. Amity couldn’t say anything, the loud, high pitched screaming in her head short-circuiting all forms of higher thought. Was her face on fire? It felt like it was on fire.

“I mean it,” Eda stated firmly. “You two may just be _friends_ ,” her tone spoke volumes about how much she believed that. “But I don’t want to walk in on any teenage shenanigans in my house. Doors will be kept open.” Amity let out a high-pitched groan and hid her face in her hands, leaning into them with her elbows resting on her knees. A quiet place to go die of embarrassment would have been lovely just then. She could hear King laughing hysterically at them and Luz was still blankly trying to choke out some sort of reply but it was all just coming out as garbled broken nonsense. Amity’s ears were burning and she didn’t even want to know how red her face was. Eda just laughed and stood.

“Good. Now that that’s settled, I have some potions to brew.” She gently swatted Luz upside the head as if to restart her malfunctioning brain and Luz yelped, staring at her in surprise. “Luz can get you settled in one of the rooms. I think it’s safe to say neither of you will be going to school today. If you need anything, find it yourselves, I’m not a maid service. And remember! Doors. Open.” With that, she waltzed off to do whatever it was she was off to do, leaving Luz and Amity to sit in deafeningly awkward silence on the sofa, Kings belly-aching laughs the only sound in the room.

Amity pushed her fingers into her hair and stared at her knees, lips pressed in a flat line and eyes wide. Had that just happened or had all the blushing and gay panic finally given her some sort of aneurism? Luz was sitting stock still next to her, barely breathing. She peaked past the wrist that was blocking her view and her eyes met Luz’s wide, shocked ones.

They stared at each other for a second in silence, both so red in the face they were practically the same colour. Neither said anything as they stared, trying to comprehend what had just happened. She couldn’t believe Eda had said it. The moment had been so ridiculous that Amity felt her lips tug at the corner and she bit back a little scoff that burst out of her mouth; a snort escaped Luz and then she cracked the tiniest of smiles too. She wasn’t sure which of them lost it first but they both came undone and suddenly they were collapsing on the sofa and laughing uproariously along with King. All the nerves flooded out of her and Amity felt unbridled joy for the first time in ages. It took forever for them to calm down and, when they did, they were both wheezing for breath, stomachs aching and wiping tears from their eyes. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed that hard. Exhausted, she flopped back onto the sofa with Luz, both still chuckling occasionally, totally content to just be embarrassed together.

King hopped down from the sofa and looked up at them gleefully. “That’s probably as good a welcome as Eda has ever given anyone. Welcome to the Mad House.” He declared.

“ _Owl_ House!” Eda called from the kitchen and the girls both snorted out more laughter. King waved dismissively as if Eda could see him and trotted off, likely to go nap or steal Luz’s phone again, leaving Luz and Amity alone in the living room. Wiping away the last of her tears, Amity looked at Luz and grinned.

“Should we really be skipping school?” She asked. She'd never skipped a day of school in her life. Luz swatted her hand through the air casually.

“Relax, you could use a day off,” she replied. “When was the last time you just sat around the house all day and did nothing remotely productive?” Amity thought about it for a second before shrugging.

“I’ve literally never done that,” she said flatly. Luz popped up off the sofa and pulled Amity up by the hand, dragging her happily to the hallway that lead upstairs.

“We’ll fix that right now. Let’s go, I’ll show you how to be a lazy, waste-of-space teenager. I’m something of an expert,” she said, proudly puffing up her chest as she grinned at Amity over her shoulder. “But first, we need to find you your very own room in the Owl House!” Amity very much doubted Luz had ever had a day were she was lazy and she vehemently disagreed with the idea of her being a waste of anything. But spending the day alone with Luz sounded fantastic, so who was she to argue. Especially when it meant getting to do it every day after that too.

* * *

I maaaaaaay have edited and uploaded this at midnight so PLEASE tell me if you see any dumb mistakes. I'm sure there are tons. Chapter 4 isn't quite done yet but I wanted to get this out today so that all the big talks and stuff are over and we can move on to some more personal stuff. Next chapter, Luz and Amity learn more about each other's pasts.

How do notes work on this site? Its weird


	4. Bedrooms & Backstories

The Owl House was a lot bigger on the inside than it should have been. Luz was pulling Amity along the hallway and showing her all the strange décor everywhere as they went. They’d gone up the stairs, looking at the hundreds of pictures on the walls and walked down a long hallway filled with cabinets and knick-knacks. A hallway that split into more branching hallways, all with rooms attached that should not have been able to fit.

It wasn’t the first time she’d been up here of course. Amity had been to Luz’s room before when they’d trained her to face Grom. She hadn’t really thought about it at the time though, her mind focused more on the task at hand. Now, as Luz took her down a hallway to the side that should definitely not be there, Amity was curious.

Enchantments like these were fairly common on the Boiling Isles. The Construction Coven used them all the time, but they were expensive and required a _lot_ of permits and red-tape. Amity somehow doubted Eda had gotten the appropriate paperwork for all of it and the thought made her smile. Eda had very quickly shown Amity that there was a lot more to her than people thought. She was rebellious. Free-spirited. Surprisingly foxy for her age. Luz had mentioned more than once that Eda was the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles and, while she had her doubts about that, there was no denying that she _was_ powerful. Amity kind of understood why the Emperor’s Coven wanted her.

But Eda was more than just a powerful, rebel bad girl. She was kind and generous. She loved Luz like Amity thought parents were supposed to love their kids, even though Luz wasn’t hers. A worried, exasperated sort of love with plenty of affection and teasing to go along with it. Amity couldn’t quite believe that Eda was extending that same affection to her now. Amity had shown up on her doorstep, a total mess, in the middle of the night with nowhere to go and Eda had opened up her home to her, no questions asked. She wasn’t a criminal. She was amazing. She was kind and thoughtful and compassionate. She cared in a snarky sort of way. She just wanted to live her life free of the limitations & expectations others put on her. Amity could relate. Strongly.

Her eyes lingered on Luz, a fellow member of Eda’s found family. Luz had had such a profound effect on Amity that she wondered if it’d been the same for Eda. Maybe Luz’s endless enthusiasm for magic and her love for the people around her had helped Eda be more open to having a family too. She’d certainly been more than happy to add Amity to it after all.

How was she ever supposed to tell this gorgeous idiot how much she owed her? How could she possibly ever repay her? How was it possible that her eyes were such a pretty shade of brown? Like hot chocolate on cold winter nights and wait, was Luz looking at her? Oh god how long had Amity been staring? And she was speaking now! Crap, what had she said? _Say something!_

“Uh-wha?” She snapped her mouth shut. Those weren’t words! Luz tilted her head, confused.

“Are you ok? You looked like you were spacing out really hard there for a minute,” she said, her lips twitching at the corners. Amity’s brain caught up at last and she managed a smile to try and cover her embarrassing slip.

“Sorry, I was just lost in thought. What were you saying?” She asked. Luz grinned and stepped in front her, stretching her arms out wide.

“I was saying that we’re here!” She said, gesturing to the hallway. Amity blinked and then turned to look. They were standing in front of a familiar door. Confusion pulled her brows up and she looked back at Luz.

“Your room?” She asked.

“No, silly,” Luz grinned, her eyes sparkling excitedly. “ _Your_ room.” She turned and pointed to the door. Not her own, but the door that was right next to hers. Right. Next. Door.

“M- _my_ room?” She stammered. Amity swallowed hard because she suddenly felt her heart trying to climb its way into her throat. Before she could squeak out some sort of reply, Luz was grabbing her hand and yanking the door open to pull Amity inside.

It was packed with boxes and old piles of junk. Trunks and chests overflowed with what looked like human artifacts that Amity couldn’t even guess the natures of. The window was obscured by a rack of old coats that didn’t look like they belonged in this century. It was a dusty mess.

“What do you think?” Luz asked enthusiastically. She was grinning at Amity expectantly. “If we clear all this trash out, it could totally work, right?” If Amity had any thoughts on the matter, she would be hard pressed to articulate them just then. Luz looked so adorably happy about the idea and it was stopping all blood flow to Amity’s brain so all she managed was a garbled mess of stammering. Luz seemed to take that as a yes though.

“Great! I’ll just go ask Eda where we can put all this junk. Be right back!” She said happily and then she was gone. Taking a deep breath of the slightly musty air, Amity calmed herself down and looked around. It was hard to tell, but the room was probably roughly the same size as Luz’s. Deeper than it was wide but certainly not small. Not as large as her old room at the manor of course but she kind of preferred this. Maybe it would be a little hard to deal with the idea of having Luz literally only one wall away from her at all times but the idea was as exciting as it was nerve-wracking.

“Hey, Amity, are you sure this room’s okay?” Luz asked as she walked back into the room and Amity turned to look at her. “I know I can get a bit overexcited sometimes and I don’t wanna force you or anything.” She looked genuinely worried that she might have overstepped in her excitement. Amity wandered if maybe Eda has said something to her. That wouldn’t do at all. Amity grinned at her.

“This is great, Luz, really,” she said happily. Luz’s face lit up and Amity decided she could live with her brain malfunctioning on a daily basis if it meant getting to see that all the time. “But you’re definitely doing all the heavy lifting,” she added. “I know how strong you are now.” Luz flushed, grinning widely and took a deep, exaggerated bow.

“Of course, my lady,” she drawled in that silly accent and Amity laughed into her own blush. Yeah, this would be ok.

They’d been moving boxes of trash for a while, laughing as they unearthed new bits of human junk that Luz would try to explain to her. Some of it was pretty mundane, like the old broken ‘racquet’ that Luz had said was for a human sport called ‘tennis’. Amity had thought it sounded a little dull. All you did was knock a ball back and forth over a net until someone missed. Where was the fun in that? Luz had just laughed and agreed.

Some things were a lot more interesting, like the strange little metal cart that she called a ‘car’. Apparently it had been a toy version of the things humans used instead of flying staffs. Luz had said the real things were much, much bigger and that you climbed _inside_ them. It all made Amity want to visit Luz’s home just to experience it with her.

It was when Amity was clearing some old books out of a particularly heavy box that she stumbled on something. Something confusing and a little distressing. Did Luz know about this? Should she bring it up? Why did Eda have this?

“Amity?” She jumped and turned around to see Luz looking at her with concern. “Are you ok? Your ears look kinda droopy,” she said, stepping closer. Amity felt her face turn crimson and she snapped her hands up to her ears, feeling them self-consciously as the paper she’d been looking at fluttered to the floor.

“M-my ears?” She stuttered out.

“Yeah, they get all droopy when you’re anxious or sad and they were definitely going like bwaaaaa, right then,” Luz said, using her fingers to imitate the motion over her own rounded ears. Did her ears really do that? She’d never noticed. Why had _Luz_ noticed? How much time did she spend looking at Amity’s ears?!

“They… they do not!” She said, flustered and Luz chuckled at her.

“Yeah they do. So what’s wrong? Did you find something?” She walked up to Amity and retrieved the paper she’d been looking at from the floor. Amity bit her lip as Luz read over what had turned out to be an application form for the Emperor’s Coven mentor program. It had been signed Eda Clawthorne. Eda had been planning on signing up for a mentor in school, which meant…

“Oh, yeah apparently Eda wanted to join the Emperor’s Coven when she was a kid. Lilith told me about it right before she nearly had me branded when I was stuck in Eda’s body,” Luz said, nonchalantly tossing the paper back in the box. Amity’s brain had stalled. Had she just said she’d been stuck inside Eda’s body?

“ _What?”_ She yelped. She definitely needed to hear that story. Not only because body-swap spells were highly illegal and she wanted to know why they could possibly have ever needed to use one, but also because she desperately wanted to know what Luz had meant about the branding. Had Lilith almost forced a brand on Luz? The thought sent a spike of anger down her spine that stiffened her. Before she could ask about it though, Luz continued.

“I’ll tell you about it later. It was a _really_ weird day. Anyway, I don’t really know what happened. I guess things changed when Eda got cursed and she decided not to join.” Luz looked up at her and tilted her head curiously. “You want to join too right? You told me that at the convention when we first officially met.” That gave Amity pause and she frowned lightly. Had Luz forgotten? Amity sure as hell hadn’t.

“We met at school, Luz. Remember? I nearly had you _dissected?”_ That awful day still ate at her. She was horribly ashamed of the way she’d acted. To her surprise, Luz laughed.

“Nah, that doesn’t count, I never told you my name that day. Besides, what’s a little casual dissection between friends?” She gave Amity her special little lopsided grin. “It’s not like it was the most dangerous thing we’ve ever done together. Or the most dangerous thing that’s happened to me at school.” She added.

It warmed Amity’s heart to know Luz didn’t hold any of it against her, but she still felt the need to apologize. “As flawed as that logic is, I still want to say how sorry I am about that day. I could have gotten you seriously hurt. I know it’s not an excuse but when I lost that badge… I wasn’t thinking straight and I panicked. I’m really sorry, Luz,” she said earnestly. Perhaps sensing that this was going to become a conversation, Luz hopped up onto a box and patted the spot next to her as an invitation for Amity to join her. Amity felt heat rise in her cheeks but managed to sit next to Luz, clutching her knees nervously.

“Come on, give yourself a break. You weren’t _that_ bad,” Luz said, nudging Amity’s shoulder with her own. The friendly jolt helped her relax and she smiled weakly. “I did plenty of really dumb stuff to you before we became friends too. Like at The Knee and the convention? Or your diary?” Their eyes met and Amity could see the genuine remorse in Luz’s face over her own mistakes. She’d been so focused on feeling bad about the things she’d done in the past that she’d half forgotten that Luz hadn’t been perfect when they’d first met either. She felt suddenly like she’d been awoken to something. Some new realization. They were both flawed but they’d both grown so much. Together. A soft smile spread across her face and Luz grinned at her happily. “It all worked out though, right? If it makes you feel better, I’ll accept your apology, but only if you accept mine for all the dumb stuff I did. Deal?” She held her hand out and gave Amity a mock serious look that she couldn’t help but laugh at.

“Deal,” she said, matching Luz’s serious tone and taking her hand to give it a firm shake. Luz gave her hand a sharp tug and pulled her into a hug, wrapping her up tightly in her arms. It was all Amity needed to let go of any lingering regrets between them.

“Besides,” Luz said as she pulled back, giving Amity a sympathetic smile. “Now I kinda have an idea of why you were so determined to keep that top student star in the first place and I can’t blame you for going a bit crazy. I’m just spit-balling here but I figured it was because of your parents.” Amity scrunched up her face at the phrase.

“Luz, don’t spit. That’s gross,” she said. Humans were so weird sometimes. Luz snorted and broke out into a fit of giggles, giving Amity a playful shove.

“Not what I meant!” She laughed happily. Amity grinned back and rolled her eyes. Ok so maybe she was the idiot this time. She’d made Luz laugh though so she was ok with that.

“I get it though. Your parents were really strict about school stuff right?” Luz asked once she’d calmed down. Amity sighed and leaned back on the box, staring up at the ceiling. It somehow felt easier to talk about like this. Maybe it was because Luz always seemed so genuinely invested in everything she had to say and Amity wasn’t quite sure how to deal with that after years of no one wanting to hear her thoughts or opinions. Or maybe it was because her pretty brown eyes were so damn distracting. Who could say for sure.

“My parents are… were very invested in my studies. It’s all they really cared about. They picked the Abomination Track for me because it’s the most prestigious one. Only really powerful witches specialize in abominations. They’re really hard to conjure and even harder to control.” She felt an old, familiar pang of bitter jealousy twist in her stomach and grimaced. “Ed and Em got to go into the Illusions Track because they showed a lot of potential for it as kids. They’re practically prodigies. I’m… not. My parents would have killed me if I lost that top student badge for any reason. As long as I was the top student of the top track, they were tolerable. Still, it never felt like it was enough for them. I always had to do more. Be better.” She paused, suddenly worried that she’d been rambling for too long.

She glanced down at Luz to apologize but found her watching her with rapt attention, eyes wide. Thinking fondly of what she’d said before about liking backstories, Amity decided she could keep going. “I’ve never been a natural at magic like the twins,” she said and gave Luz a small smile. “Kinda like you actually. I’ve had to struggle to get my abominations to work. It was hard… seeing the other students get it so fast on their first try, even if their results weren’t perfect. I’ve always had to make sure to read ahead and practice for hours before class so that no one would know I’m useless at it. I mean, you saw me learning fire magic with Ed and Em on the knee. I had to use a practice wand just to get it to work the first few times and fire isn’t even that difficult to conjure!” Bitterness at her own weakness built up in her and burned at her eyes. She’d never told anyone about her struggles with magic before. She angrily blinked back the tears though. She was done crying about it.

“Amity… I had no idea! I thought magic came easy to you. You always make it _look_ easy! I mean you’ve got to be the strongest witch at school!” Luz gushed. Amity smiled at her shyly.

“Thanks, Luz, that’s sweet of you. But to be honest I find most magic really difficult to master. I have to work at it a lot,” she admitted quietly. Luz tilted her head curiously and frowned.

“So training for the Emperor’s Coven… was that your way of getting to learn different kinds of magic later?” She asked. Amity paused at that and frowned.

“Not really. I mean the idea _is_ appealing. As hard as it is, I love learning new spells and getting to use all kinds of magic would be great, but that decision was my parents too. Ed and Em are headed for the Illusion Coven so I was their only other option. Joining the Emperor’s Coven became all I ever thought about but I think I was just trying to make my parents happy. Honestly… I don’t really know what I want anymore.”

When she turned to look at Luz again, she found her staring at her with absolute awe on her face. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was gaping open, leaning in close. Amity felt heat flood her whole face and she leaned back a little. Too close!

“Luz… you’re staring.” Luz blinked as if coming out of a trance and shook her head.

“Sorry, it’s just… I can’t get over how awesome you are!” She said excitedly. Amity frowned in confusion. Had Luz been listening at all?

“What? Luz I just told you I’m totally useless at magic,” she said but Luz shook her head vigorously. She hopped off the box and paced in front of Amity with enthusiastic energy.

“No! You’re like the ultimate superhero! Fighting tooth and nail to prove your strength. There’s danger and adventure and villains who try to beat you down! It’s tough but you never give up until you come out on top as the most powerful witch ever!” She exclaimed, hopping about and acting as if she were fighting off invisible enemies. She turned suddenly to look at Amity, her eyes sparking. “You’re _just like Azura!”_

Heat flooded her whole body and Amity wondered if Luz could feel it from where she was standing. But as she sat there, staring at Luz, she realized she was wrong. She stood sharply and looked at Luz seriously, feeling something building in her. She needed to get it out because Luz was so very, very wrong. She definitely wasn’t Azura.

“If anyone is like Azura, it’s _you!”_ She cried out, surprised by the passion in her voice. “You were never supposed to be able to do magic at all and look at everything you can do now! You literally figured out how magic was done by the original witches. That knowledge was lost centuries ago but you did it anyway and in just few days! I’ve never met anyone that can do the things you can!” Luz was staring back at her in shock but Amity found it impossible to stop. “And you’re brave and selfless like her too! Look at how you helped Willow at the Grudgby match. Or when you helped me with Grom! You’re always so willing to help everyone no matter what! Isn’t that what a real hero does?”

She was pretty sure she was just gushing at that point. She had no idea where she’d found the courage to be this open with Luz but she wasn’t about to complain when Luz launched herself at Amity and pulled her into a tight, warm embrace. She smiled happily and held on tight. They stood for a moment, quietly holding each other, when Amity found herself talking again. “You are easily the most inspiring person I’ve ever met, you big dork,” she whispered, happily giving Luz one last squeeze before pulling back.

Luz, for her part, couldn’t stop smiling. Amity had no idea how much all of that had meant to her. She found Amity a little intimidating at times. She was so powerful and strong and beautiful. But being around her made Luz feel like she was all those things too and now she knew that Amity thought she was just as powerful and impressive. Hearing Amity whisper that she, Luz Noceda, inspired her, had sent thrills tingling up her spine.

“Awe, you really _are_ going soft on me aren’t you, Blight?” She said, grinning at her teasingly. But then Amity leveled her with a smirk that made Luz’s brain turn fuzzy. She walked past Luz and bumped her shoulder as she passed.

“Maybe just a little, _Noceda_.” Hearing Amity say her name like _that_ sent a bolt of lightning through Luz and she felt her face go crimson. Thankfully Amity was already sorting through boxes behind her so she didn’t see the absolute mess she’d just made of Luz. She let out a shuddery breath, desperately trying to calm down but that smirk and that _tone_ just kept flying around in her head. Did she realize how flirty that had been? Had she _meant_ for it to be? She swallowed hard and turned to look at Amity, who still had that little smile playing around her lips.

“ _Ay, Dios mío_ …” she murmured. This girl was going to be the death of her. Amity paused and turned to look at her, confused.

“What was that?” She asked and Luz yelped. Oh god, she’d heard!

“N-nothing!” She stammered awkwardly, putting on a big grin to cover her nerves. “Just thinking out loud.” Amity frowned at her suspiciously but then seemed to think better of it and shrugged. It was quiet for a while after that as they worked when a thought occurred to Luz.

“So, I got to learn pretty much all of your dark secrets today, huh?” She said and Amity snorted out a laugh. Luz couldn’t help the grin that spread her cheeks at the adorable sound.

“Maybe not _all_ of them, but pretty much, yes,” she said with a chuckle. “Any deep dark secrets you want to share so that we’re even?” It had been a joke but Luz got the feeling Amity actually did want to hear more about her. The thought made her smile giddily.

“Seems fair. I’m an open book! What do you want to know?” She said easily and Amity tilted her head in thought, trying to decide what to ask.

“What’s Earth like?” She asked eventually, looking up at Luz curiously. That was a tough one. There was a lot she could say about it but where to start?

“It’s… different,” she said at last. “Definitely a whole lot more boring than the Boiling Isles, that’s for sure. We don’t have any magic obviously, but we have a lot of technology you guys don’t. Like the internet. I’ll show you that later if I can get King to stop watching cat videos on my phone long enough to get it back.” They both chuckled at the unlikeliness of that. “It’s the same in a lot of ways too. Maybe just not as dangerous and fun as it is here. This place actually feels a lot more like home than Earth ever did,” she admitted, feeling immediately guilty at the admittance. “I feel like I belong here, ya know?”

Amity very much believed that Luz belonged there on the Boiling Isles. With her. She watched as Luz seemed to become quieter, more introspective.

“Kids are kind of meaner on Earth too.” She’d said it so quietly that Amity wondered if she’d meant for her to hear it. But she had and the sad lilt in her voice crushed her.

“What do you mean?” She asked gently, stepping a little closer to Luz. She felt suddenly very protective of her. Luz winced at being caught but she kept talking anyway, perhaps sensing that Amity genuinely wanted to know.

“Well… people here just seem more, I dunno, accepting? I wasn’t liked very much at my old school. I spent most of my time reading Azura and watching anime by myself.” She was trying to act nonchalant about it but Amity could hear the pain in her voice. She reached out and touched her arm gently, silently telling her it was ok to keep going.

“I didn’t have any friends on Earth. I guess people thought I was annoying.” She smiled sardonically and shrugged. “No one wants to hang around with the weird kid that can’t stop talking. It probably didn’t help that I kept backup snakes in my pockets though. I got into trouble a lot, which… isn’t all that different to now really.” She chuckled and smiled up at Amity awkwardly, trying to cover how hurt she was with humor. Amity wasn’t smiling though. She gave Luz the most understanding look she could muster, choosing not to ask about what backup snakes were for. Or what had happened to the first snakes.

“Keep going,” she said instead. Apparently it was all the encouragement Luz had needed.

“It was… really lonely,” she muttered, hugging herself around her middle and looking away uncomfortably. “My mom is great and she really loves me, but she’s not always around. She does her best and we have lot of fun together, it’s just… she’s a nurse, so she’s busy a lot.” The hitch in her breath broke Amity’s heart and she wanted so desperately to hold her but she was terrified that Luz would stop if she did. It was clear she’d been holding on to this for a long time.

“I know she loves me and she’s always been there when I really needed her,” Luz continued. “But she’s never really understood me. I know she wants what’s best for me but I think I frustrate her a little. Sometimes it feels kinda like she’s trying to _fix_ me too. I was supposed to go to this super boring summer camp where they teach kids to be more mature or something. I _really_ didn’t want to go. But then Owlbert stole my Azura book and I chased him and ended up here by accident.”

Luz looked up at her then and she must have seen the devastation on her face because she gave an awkward little laugh, trying to cover up how vulnerable she felt. “I’m sorry, I’m being kind of a huge bummer. You probably didn’t want to know all of that,” she said. Amity stared down at her, her heart racing. She’d had no idea that Luz had been just as lonely as she had her whole life. Their circumstances were different but they’d both felt alone. Unseen. The thought of sweet, bubbly, optimistic Luz being that unhappy and having to cover it all up with a smile so no one would notice was heartbreaking.

It was all Amity could take. She pulled Luz into a hug and held her as close as she could.

“Don’t say that,” she said sadly. “Don’t ever feel like you can’t tell me stuff like this. I’m _glad_ you told me.” She felt Luz press her face into her shoulder and take a stuttering breath. “You are definitely weird, but in a _good_ way. Sometimes you say stuff I don’t understand at all but it makes talking to you and being around you so fun! I’ve never had a friend I could just be myself around, at least not since Willow and I were kids. I’ve always admired how proudly _you,_ you are. Anyone who ever said you were annoying was an idiot. They have no idea what they’re missing.” Luz was clutching her tightly, trembling a little, but Amity was glad when she felt a small smile against her shoulder.

“So… your mom really has no idea where you are?” She asked cautiously. She could very clearly remember the sight of Grom taking on the form of Luz’s mother. She’d been curious about it but hadn’t wanted to pry at the time. She felt Luz shake her head.

“I hate that I’m lying to her but if I tell her the truth she’d be so disappointed and she might make me leave and I don’t _ever_ want to leave!” It was all coming out in a breathless rush. “I don’t want to lose Eda and King, or Willow, or Gus… or _you_. I only have a bit more than a month left and I love it here so much but she’s my _mom!_ I should want to go home but…” She sniffed and pressed her face into Amity’s neck as if to hide away. “It feels like I’d be _leaving_ home if I went back to Earth.”

It was all Amity could do not to burst into tears herself. The thought of Luz leaving the Boiling Isles terrified her. She hated the idea of her goofy, gorgeous idiot not being around anymore. She’d miss her more than anything in the world. But more than that, she hated the idea of Luz being stuck in a place where she’d been so lonely right after she’d finally found somewhere she felt seen. Somewhere she had found friends and a place to explore her creative, weird self.

“Luz…” What could she say? How could Amity possibly express all that she felt in that moment. Luz laughed weakly and stood back, pulling herself out of Amity’s arms to wipe at her wet eyes.

“I guess we’re both pretty big train wrecks, aren’t we?” She asked tremulously. Amity’s brain caught on the statement and she gave her friend a flat look.

“I have no idea what a train is, Luz.” It did the trick and Luz burst out laughing. A laugh so genuine and free that it stopped Amity’s heart and sent her stomach fluttering again. She’d done that. She’d made her feel better. She smiled at her sadly and reached up to wipe at the tears on Luz’s face, her hands trembling a little.

“I… I don’t want you to go either, Luz. But we still have time right? We’ll figure it out. I promise,” she said earnestly. Luz smiled at her then and she could see the pain leave her.

“Thanks, Amity. Thanks for listening to all of that. I think I needed it,” she said gratefully before giving her a tentative look. “Could I… get another hug? You give really good hugs.”

Amity chuckled and opened her arms because she was pretty sure she was physically incapable of denying Luz anything. “Of course. You never have to ask,” she said sincerely and happily folded her arms around Luz when she moved in close.

“Ok,” Luz said, stepping back after a long, lingering hug and grinning at her. “I think that’s enough angsty backstories for today. Let’s finish your room so we can do something fun.”

They worked quickly after that, eager to move on to something a little more light-hearted after revealing so much of themselves to each other. It was quiet but there was a comfortable ease between them that was punctuated by meaningful looks and the occasional playful nudges. Between Amity’s magic being able to lift multiple things at once and Luz being able to push the heavier stuff out of the room, they made quick work of clearing everything out.

When they were done and Luz had set up a makeshift bed with the piles of blankets and pillows she’d used the night before, they stepped back to observe their hard work. Luz winced and awkwardly scratched at the back of her neck.

“Sorry. This is probably not as good as you’re used to…” She said. It was smaller, sure. And mostly empty; the only décor was weird and mismatched chests and drawers that they had cleared out for her to use as storage. There was no real bed to speak of since apparently mattresses were the one thing Eda didn’t seem to have in her hoard. But there was a window that let in a lot of sunlight and it was cozy and welcoming and Luz’s room was right next door.

“It’s perfect,” she said honestly. Luz looked positively ecstatic at that.

“Great!” She said happily, bouncing on the spot a little. “We can decorate it however you like. Oh! We should go to the market and get some stuff!” Amity couldn’t help but grin at her enthusiasm but there were better things to do than go shopping.

“I’d rather just hang out here, if that’s ok with you,” she said and Luz shrugged.

“That works too. What did you have in mind?” She asked. Amity pretended to think about it for a second before grinning at her friend.

“Azura Book Club?”

“Azura Book Club!”

Luz grabbed her hand and ran next door to her own room, pulling Amity along with her. They spent the next few hours reading, discussing increasingly more ridiculous theories and writing their own fanfictions together. Luz had shown her the most recent piece of art she’d drawn and had eagerly told Amity that she should do some too. Considering how much she enjoyed drawing and how Luz assured her she was great at it, she promised she would draw with her later too. They were sitting close, shoulders bumping and Amity had to fight not to be a blushing mess but it was peaceful and fun so she didn’t really mind.

When the sun started to dip below the horizon, Luz whipped out her notepad and started sketching up some witch lights, happily blowing on them so they would float away and light up the room while Amity read aloud from the latest Azura book. They’d both read it more than once of course, but it was fun going over parts of it again and she enjoyed reading to Luz. She was so engrossed that she found herself leaning forward, getting drawn in by the adventures of the Good Witch Azura and Hecate.

As she read she felt a light breeze blow past her ear, rustling the hair around it a little. Irritated by the sudden tickling, her ear twitched and she reached up to push her hair back behind it. A little squeak made her look up at Luz curiously. She was trying very hard to act innocent but Amity had no idea why. Frowning suspiciously for a moment, she decided to let it pass and turned back to the book. A moment passed and then suddenly she felt another little breeze puff past her ear. It twitched again and she was sure she heard Luz trying to stifle a laugh then. Ok, she was definitely up to something and Amity was going to find out what.

Ready to catch her in the act, she turned her head just in time to see Luz lean in and _blow on her ear!_ She let out a loud yelp, threw herself back, arms flailing and landed heavily on her back. She lay there, hand clamped over her tingling ear and breathing heavily as her heart made a good effort of pounding its way out of her chest. She was pretty sure she was red from her toes to the tips of her damn ears that Luz had just been _blowing_ on! Said girl was laughing hysterically at her, doubled over and clutching her stomach. Oh it was funny, was it?

“Luz, what are you _doing_?” She barked, her voice strangled.

“Sorry!” She gasped out between laughs. “It was an accident the first time I swear! I was blowing a light spell away but I got your ear when you moved and it got all twitchy and it was really cute! I couldn’t resist. I didn’t realise they were that sensitive!” Her laughter was so bright and bubbly and it made Amity’s heart soar but stars was Luz _trying_ to kill her? Where was this fascination with her ears coming from?!

Still giggling, Luz reached down to pull Amity back up and leaned into her side. “Sorry, I won’t do it again, promise,” she chuckled. Amity wanted nothing more than to beg for her to do it again but she had to keep some shred of her dignity intact so she just huffed at her, willing her scarlet cheeks to cool down.

“You are _such_ a dork,” she said, reaching up to flick one of Luz’s rounded ears with a finger. She laughed and yelped, her own cheeks flushing as well.

“Ow! Hey, I said I was sorry!” She giggled and Amity laughed with her. She knew Luz liked someone else but sometimes the things she did and said made her think maybe it wasn’t totally hopeless. Either way, Amity was pretty sure all of this innocent flirting was going to be the death of her. When they settled back to finish reading, she made sure to stay level with Luz, just in case.

* * *

I'll just do chapter notes like this coz AO3's note system is weird. SO who's excited for the new episode tonight?! I can't wait to learn more about Eda and her curse! If you've seen it, please don't post any spoilers in the comments!

Next chapter is a DOOZY so look forward to that hehe. After chapter 5 I might be a little slower to update coz I'm officially back at work. I'll have less time to write. Feels bad man

As per usual, feel free to point out my dumb mistakes! Bonus points to anyone that can catch the obscure movie reference in the chapter title!


	5. The Witchwood Tree

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Strap in folks, this is a long one

As much as she wished it weren’t true, Amity knew she couldn’t exist in her happy little Owl House bubble with Luz forever. They had to go out into the world and face the music eventually, despite how much Eda insisted that school wasn’t necessary when you were in the Bad Girl Coven. Amity was rather partial to school, thank you very much and Luz’s love of learning new magic made it even more imperative that they return. The last thing she wanted was to keep Luz all to herself at the expense of her friend’s happiness.

So after just one day of peace, she found herself walking into Hexide Academy with Luz and Eda, headed to Principal Bump's office for a chat. She’d had to borrow a uniform and have Eda change the colours for her since her old one had been pretty much ruined but, unless one looked very closely at the fact that the hems where just a little too short for her, no one would notice anything amiss. Thankfully, she and Luz were practically the same size, Amity only having a few inches of height on her. After two very eventful days, a quiet day of school was exactly what she needed to regain a little normalcy in her life.

Eda led them into the principal’s office, strolling in as casually as if she owned the place. Amity admired how confident and at ease Eda was with herself. She hoped to be half that comfortable within her own skin one day. However, when Eda flopped herself into the chair in front of Bumps desk and promptly put her feet up onto it, Amity decided maybe she didn’t need to be quite that confident. Luz was trying hard to stifle a laugh at the long-suffering look on Bump’s face though and Amity found herself snickering too, nudging Luz lightly in the ribs to get her to stop.

“Hello, Edalyn,” Principal Bump grit out, clearly trying to maintain his professional attitude while roughly shoving her feet off his desk with a bit of magic. “What brings you to Hexide? Your human hasn’t gotten into any trouble that I know of.” Bump turned his eyes to Luz, raising a brow at her curiously and she grinned awkwardly, waving innocently from where she and Amity were standing.

“Nah, Luz is a good kid, for the most part,” Eda said, sitting up from where she’d stumbled out of the chair when Bump had pushed her. “I’m here about this troublemaker,” she added, motioning to Amity. Amity scoffed indignantly but Eda just grinned and winked at her. Luz was sniggering at her now and she huffed, crossing her arms and turning away to hide her own smile. “We have a few things we need to discuss about her current… situation,” Eda said, rolling her hand like she was searching for the correct word.

“Ah, yes, Miss Blight. I was wondering when I’d see you. Your parents paid me a rather… interesting visit yesterday.” Amity turned sharply to look at him, her face suddenly pale. Why would her parents come here? A horrible sense of dread filled her and she felt her throat clam up. There was really only one reason she could think of and the idea terrified her.

“I’m afraid to say your parents have removed you from Hexide, Miss Blight,” Principal Bump said, his tone regretful. Amity felt suddenly as if the world had tilted on its ear and she had to take a step to steady herself, bumping into Luz who caught her worriedly. Her breath caught in her throat and she grasped Luz’s arm, seeking some stability. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from Bump’s remorseful face. Her suspicion had been right. She’d been expelled. How would she go to school? Could she even keep going there? She didn’t have the money to pay her own school fees and she was loath to ask Eda. She’d already done more than enough for Amity.

Eda snarled and banged her hand furiously on the table, snapping before Amity could formulate some sort of response. “They did what?! Those no good, uptight social climbers have a lot of nerve pulling something like that after-” She was cut off when Principal Bump held up his hand. He gave them all a look before sitting forward and pressing his hands together on his desk.

“As I’m sure you are aware, funding has been a bit of a problem at Hexide recently. We’ve found ourselves having to do a lot more repairs this year for some reason.” He turned an annoyed look Luz’s way and she looked away, suddenly very interested in the ceiling. “As such, no refunds have been made available to those who wish to remove students from school.” He turned to Eda and there was no mistaking his sudden smirk. Realization dawned on Eda’s face and she leaned back, grinning wide.

“Bumpy, you sly, old dog. I didn’t think you had it in you,” she said, impressed. Bump pretended he hadn’t heard.

“On an entirely unrelated note,” he said casually. “We have suddenly found ourselves with the funds available for an emergency scholarship program.” He turned his eyes to Amity and smiled. “An excellent student like Miss Blight seems like the perfect candidate for a merit based scholarship, wouldn’t you agree?” Amity felt a rush of gratitude for the principal as her tension eased, realizing exactly what he was offering her. She was desperately relieved that she wouldn’t have to encroach on Eda’s hospitality any more than she already was and even happier that her parents seemed to have lost this little game they’d tried to play. Still, just to calm her raging nerves entirely, she had to make sure.

“So… I get to stay?” She asked nervously. Principal Bump gave her a nod and she breathed a huge sigh of relief.

“The scholarship funds we have available just so happen to be enough to last one student till the end of the school year,” he said off-handedly, fooling no one. “After that we will have to come to some other arrangement. But, for now, you have nothing to worry about, Miss Blight.” Luz let out a happy cry and jumped at Amity, hugging her tightly.

“Yes! Principal Bump you are the _man!”_ She said gleefully. The principal coughed into his hand to hide a smile before looking to Eda.

“If you are planning to enroll Miss Blight under the scholarship, there is some paperwork you will need to fill out,” he said, smirking at the very loud groan Eda grunted out.

“The things I do for you kids,” she muttered grumpily.

“Miss Blight will also need to select a track to study,” Bump said, turning to look at Amity who frowned in confusion.

“I’m not going to be in the Abomination Track anymore?” She asked curiously. Principal Bump stood and moved around the room to retrieve a large stack of papers that he dumped gleefully in front of Eda. With a little smirk at Eda’s second groan he turned to the girls and raised a hand.

“Technically, as you are being re-enrolled under a new guardian, you are considered a new student. And all new students must choose a track to study,” he said, twirling his finger in the air to form a spell circle that washed all the colour from Amity’s uniform. She looked down at her, now white, sleeves with wide eyes. She got to choose? She’d never been afforded the option to choose before. She found her mind suddenly blank.

Luz was grinning from ear to ear though. “Amity, this is great! You can learn whatever you want now!” She said excitedly. Amity turned to look at her and gave her a helpless smile.

“It’s a nice thought but how am I supposed to choose? Abomination magic is the only thing I know,” she said. It was a lot of pressure. With nine tracks to choose from and no experience in the way of making such big decisions for herself, she was at a loss.

Eda looked up from the paperwork she was begrudgingly filling in and gave Amity a sympathetic smile. “Old Bumpy is letting you kids do more than one track now, right? Why don’t you give that a try?” She asked. That idea appealed to Amity a lot. She’d just been talking to Luz about wanting to branch out yesterday and here was her chance. That still meant having to choose from nine tracks though and didn’t help her narrow down her choices at all.

A loud gasp caught her attention and she turned to see Luz positively vibrating with excitement next to her. “Oh my gosh! Amity you could totally be All Track like me!” She cried out happily. “We could be in all the same classes!”

Amity chuckled at her enthusiasm and had to admit she liked the idea. She wouldn’t get to learn the tracks as in-depth as she’d like, but that was nothing a little after school reading couldn’t fix and this way she’d have a good base for choosing a specialty later. If she chose to specialize at all. “That’s actually not a bad idea,” she agreed. She turned to look at Principal Bump. “Would it be possible for me to do all the tracks? I’d like to get a better idea of what each of them has to offer,” she asked.

He simply smiled and gave his finger another twirl, colouring her uniform to match Luz’s rainbow one. “Very well, Miss Blight. You will need to catch up with all of your new classes, but seeing as you are one of our most diligent pupils, I’m sure I can trust that won’t be a problem,” he said. Luz gave a happy little squeal, dancing on the spot and Amity grinned at the adorable display. She would spend the rest of her life with her nose in a book if it meant making Luz that happy. The fact she got to study all the new magic she wanted was a delightful little added bonus.

“Of course, sir. I won’t let you down,” she said seriously and laughed when Luz pounced to give her another hug.

“This is gonna be so great!” Luz gushed excitedly. Principal Bump produced a schedule with a little magical flourish and handed it to Amity.

“You children run along to your first classes. I believe Edalyn and I will be busy for a while,” he said, not quite hiding his amusement at Eda’s apparent suffering. Eda let out a third, long groan, muttering under her breath about kids and responsibilities. Amity and Luz took that as their opportunity to hightail it out of Bump’s office, making a beeline for their lockers.

Luz was chattering to her excitedly about getting to study together as they strolled down the halls but Amity was becoming more and more distracted by the whispering and curious looks they seemed to be getting. As a member of one of the more prominent witch families and a top ranking student, she was used to being gawked at, but this seemed somehow different.

A little nervous twinge built in her stomach but she stamped it down. She chose instead to focus on the loveable dork still talking a mile a minute beside her. Luz didn’t seem to care that every eye was following them down the hall so Amity wouldn’t either. She held her head up high and diligently ignored the stares and hushed conversations going on around her, choosing instead to engage Luz in her excited babbling conversation.

It became harder to ignore though, after their morning classes were over and even Luz seemed to have noticed that they were getting more attention than usual. It seemed like all eyes were on them when they joined Willow and Gus at a table for lunch, sitting down together opposite their two friends. Willow seemed genuinely relieved to see them both and leaned forward across the table.

“Where have you guys been? We were so worried when you didn’t come to school yesterday!” She said urgently. Gus pointed his fork at them and raised an eyebrow.

“Are the rumors true?” He asked seriously. “Did you really run away from home?” Amity blanched at the open question as Willow swatted Gus’s arm.

“Augustus! Don’t be rude,” she hissed, shooting Amity an apologetic look. Gus seemed unconcerned though, his child-like curiosity seemingly getting the better of him.

“What? It’s a valid question. Everyone has been talking about it. What better place to put the rumors to rest than at the source herself?” He said simply, before turning to look at Amity. “So? Is it true?”

“How did you hear about that?” She asked in lieu of answering. If there really were rumors running about the school that she had left her home, it would explain all of the whispers and looks she and Luz had been getting all day. Gus seemed delighted to have been proven right.

“It’s all over the school,” he said. “Everyone’s been talking about it since yesterday.” Luz bristled beside Amity, reaching up to put a supportive hand on her shoulder.

“She didn’t just run away, there’s more to it than that,” she said irritably. “Is that why everyone has been looking at us weird all day? I thought maybe they were just shocked that Amity switched tracks or something. How does everyone know already?”

“Oh, it might have found its way on to Penstagram somehow,” a sickly-sweet voice jeered. Boscha had appeared behind Luz and Amity without anyone noticing. She stood there with her arms folded contemptuously, sneering down at them. Her posse of friends stood just behind her and gave friendly waves to their group.

Amity was surprised but glad they were holding on to that friendly spirit they’d shown after the grudgby match; it was a nice to know some people were willing to make amends. Boscha, however, turned to glare at her little group viciously, making all of them flinch. Apparently not everyone wanted to make amends then.

Boscha turned back to them and speared Amity with a smirk. “Looks like the little runaway decided to make an appearance. I’m surprised you had the guts to show up at school,” she drawled, eyeing her nails as if the entire conversation was all beneath her, despite her having initiated it. Amity could only roll her eyes.

“Get out of here, Boscha,” she said, turning her back on the three-eyed girl. “We’re not doing this today, I’m not in the mood.” Boscha’s smirk grew and she leaned over, setting her hands on her hips.

“Awe, what’s the matter?” She sneered, her voice taking on a mockingly sad tone. “Sad you don’t get to live like the rest of us anymore? Can’t make those little quips about how much better you are than me now can you?” She straightened up and tossed her hair back with a little flip of her hand. “I guess being tossed out on your ass like the loser you are must have finally humbled you.”

Willow and Gus were glaring at Boscha from their side of the table and she could practically feel the annoyance radiating off of Luz. The last thing Amity wanted right now was to cause a scene in the middle of the cafeteria. They were already being stared at enough as it was. So she shrugged and refused to look at Boscha. She wasn’t going to play this game if she didn’t have to.

“Say whatever you want, Boscha. I don’t care. At least _I_ get to make my own decisions about my life now,” she said simply, hoping she hadn’t gone too far with that last line. It had been just a little too much to resist getting in at least one small dig at her ex-friend. Boscha seemed to take immediate offense though and all but snarled at them.

“I don’t get you,” she hissed furiously. “I thought we were friends but I guess you were just faking huh? Now you’re just some sad loser with no money and no social status.” She gestured to herself and the other girls behind her. “You used to be one of us! We had all the power and no one to tell us what to do!” Amity turned to look at her then, eyes narrowing.

“Except our parents,” she snapped. They glared at each other for a moment before Amity let out an annoyed sigh. “Boscha we were never friends. Our parents forced us to hang out and you know it. You treated me and everyone around you like trash and I’m not going to accept that anymore.” She grimaced a little, remembering how she had been party to the bullying not so long ago, however reluctantly. “Not from you and not from myself. Maybe if you stopped being so obsessed with appearances, things could be different, but until you grow up and apologize for being such a jerk to my friends, there’s no chance we’ll ever be friends.”

She caught Luz’s look of awe from the corner of her eye and turned to smile at her. Willow and Gus seemed equally amazed and she was happy to see Willow smiling at her glowingly. That was another step closer to getting their friendship back to the way it had been before. Boscha’s glare only seemed to deepen though and she raised herself up, shoulders shaking, face red and hands clenched.

“Stop acting like you’re _so_ mature,” she snarled angrily. “You and I both know you’re not being honest about who you _really_ are.” Amity turned to look at her again and raised an eyebrow.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said. Boscha’s smirk turned truly cruel then and she let out a little twisted chuckle.

“Oh _really_? Coz I overheard some pretty interesting details when my dad was having his weekly meeting with your parents last night,” she drawled, motioning to Willow and Gus casually. “Have you told your little friends the _real_ reason mommy and daddy didn’t want you around anymore?”

Amity froze and her eyes widened. She couldn’t help it. If Boscha had really overheard their parents talking, then it was a very distinct possibility that she _did_ know the truth. A truth Amity was very much not ready to have the entire school know. Boscha saw her moment of panic and knew she had her. She stepped back and laughed haughtily.

“Oh, so you _haven’t_ told them! Well then, maybe everyone here would like to know the truth, hmm?” She raised her voice and motioned around the cafeteria. Amity felt her world collapsing around her as panic set it. She was going to announce it to everyone! Right there where practically all of Hexide was openly staring at them, not even bothering to hide that they were listening in. Her earlier composure was shattered in the wake of the cloying fear that was building in her chest. “After all, you’re so mature and confident now. Why hide it? Why hide the fact that you’re a great big-”

There was a loud screech of wood, cutting Boscha off in an instant, as Luz stood so forcefully that she nearly knocked over the bench she and Amity were sitting on. Amity had to grab at the table to stop herself from falling over but she managed to right herself and look at Luz, who was standing stiff as a board and trembling with rage. She had her hands clenched at her sides and was working her fists like she was trying very hard not to punch Boscha in the face.

Amity was fairly certain the only reason Luz hadn’t just decked the girl was because she was determinedly _not_ looking at her, staring instead at her feet, eyes wide with anger. It scared Amity a little to see her precious, happy-go-lucky Luz so angry. She hated Boscha for doing that to Luz even more than she hated her for what she had _almost_ done to her.

When Luz finally looked up at Boscha, the three-eyed girl actually looked momentarily frightened of the human. She stepped back impulsively, swallowing hard as Luz continued to glare at her.

"I used to think you were just a jerk, Boscha,” Luz said, her voice low with anger. “But you’re actually a rotten, selfish _bitch_!” There was a collective gasp from around the cafeteria, none louder than the ones that came from Willow and Gus on the other side of their table.

No one had ever heard Luz use language even remotely bad before. Not when Boscha had been aggressively picking on them all day. Not when they’d inexplicably lost the grudgby match to a ridiculous rule. Not when she was hurt or mad or scared or _ever_.

Luz wasn’t innocent but she was compassionate, friendly and infinitely kind. Maybe a little naive at times but certainly never in a bad way. She saw the good in people and did her best to light up the world around her rather than bring it down. It was one of the many things Amity loved about her. She was sunshine packaged into a warm, beautiful person that just wanted to make everyone else happy. Being around her made Amity feel free and safe and cared for. _Loved_. Luz was not the type to drop bad words on a whim.

But for star’s sake it was not fair how _hot_ that had sounded coming out of her. She wasn’t sure if it was because it was so unexpected or because Luz was defending her so viscerally but Amity felt very much like kissing her right then and there. She hadn’t realized Luz’s innate passion could be channeled into something this primal. It was enticing. She hoped to all things good in the world that no one was looking at her in that moment because she was fairly certain her entire face was as red as the apple-blood she’d been drinking earlier.

“Were you seriously just about to do what I think you were? Coz that’s low, even for you,” Luz hissed, lowering her voice so that the entire student body couldn’t listen in. Boscha looked legitimately terrified for a moment before she tried to school her features into a glare.

“Why bother hiding it if she’s so proud that she’d leave her whole life behind,” she snarled, voice wavering a little. Luz’s glare deepened and she stepped closer to her.

“Maybe coz they didn’t give her a choice. Or _maybe_ coz it’s nobody’s business!” She snapped. “You don’t get to take that decision from her just coz you’re mad that she doesn’t want to be friends anymore.” She raised a finger and jabbed it angrily in Boscha’s direction, not quite touching her. “Maybe you should think about how _you’d_ feel if your parents threw you out over something you can’t control! You have no idea how much they hurt her and you have _no idea_ what you’re talking about so just _shut up_.” She was breathing heavily, body still quivering with suppressed anger and, as incredibly attracted as she was to the girl in that moment, Amity knew she needed to step in before things got even more out of hand.

She stood a little shakily, her nerves still fried from Boscha coming so close to outing her in front of everyone and her rather intense reaction to this new side of Luz, and settled what she hoped was a comforting hand on her arm. Luz turned to meet her eye and seemed to deflate instantly. All the fight left her and Amity gently tugged her down onto the bench with her. When they were seated, Amity turned her eyes to Boscha and gave her a very disappointed look. She was surprised to see real shame dance across Boscha’s face as they stared at one another, but eventually Amity sighed and turned away from her.

“Just go. We’re done here,” she said simply. Boscha seemed to hesitate for a moment before turning and storming off, her gaggle of friends running after her. There was total silence in the cafeteria for a minute, no one daring to breathe or move, before Gus stood on his chair and waved his arms at the students around them.

“All right, that’s enough. Show’s over folks! Go about your business,” he called out and it seemed to break the tension in the room. Normal lunch time chatter filled the cafeteria again and their little group breathed a collective sigh of relief as Gus plopped back down onto his seat triumphantly. No one spoke for a moment. Luz was staring at the table forlornly and Amity still had her hand on her arm, trying to comfort her in some small way. Willow was the first to break the silence.

“Are you guys ok?” She asked hesitantly. Her look of concern was heartwarming but Amity just felt exhausted. She leaned her forehead against her free hand and took a deep, calming breath.

“That was… probably not as bad as it could have been,” she said heavily. Gus was tilting his head at her and frowning in confusion.

“Guys, I’m lost,” he deadpanned. “Can someone explain what that was about? And since when does _Luz_ use such bad words!” He cried out, gesturing wildly to Luz with both arms.

“Sorry, Gus, but I’d really rather not talk about it,” Amity muttered, not meeting his eye.

“But we could help. We’re friends now right?” He said earnestly, leaning forward over the table. His enthusiasm was sweet but it was the last thing Amity needed just then. Frankly she could do with a long soak in a hot bath. In total silence. For a year. Alone. Luz could come though. The brief thought set her cheeks flaming again and she tried hard to tamp down the blush.

“Leave it, Gus,” Willow said firmly, giving him a look. He sighed but raised his hands in defeat.

“All right, I know when I’m beat,” he said and Amity was grateful that the younger boy was willing to drop it. She gave Willow an appreciative smile and was glad when she returned it with her own warm, understanding one. Willow promptly turned to Gus and engaged him in conversation so he would be distracted. Amity was even more grateful then. She looked to her side to see Luz still staring miserably at the table.

“Luz, you ok?” She asked hesitantly, lightly squeezing the arm she was still holding. Luz let out a low groan and slumped her head onto the table with a thunk. Amity had to scramble to push Luz’s plate aside so she wouldn’t land in her lunch.

“I’m sorry, Amity. I dunno if that was helpful or if I just made things worse. I just couldn’t let her do that to you,” she grunted, sounding frustrated with herself. “When will I learn to stop making big speeches at bullies. It never works!”

Amity couldn’t help the affectionate smile that spread across her face. Grand sweeping gestures were very on brand for Luz Noceda. She was just the type of person that would stand boldly up to bullies in the hopes of turning them away from the dark side. She patted her back gently to get her attention and Luz lifted her head to look at her.

“It’s ok. I think it did this time,” she said, thinking back to that guilt she’d seen in Boscha’s eyes. “Boscha actually looked like she felt… bad, which was new for her. I think you might have gotten through to her.” She smiled down at Luz and ran her hand down her arm to give her hand a small squeeze. “It was really sweet of you to stand up for me like that. Thank you.” She was very glad that she and Luz had talked so openly with each other the day before. It had made them both a lot more comfortable being honest with each other and the way Luz’s face lit up and she launched herself at Amity made her never want to stop being honest with the girl. She laughed and returned the hug happily before they turned back to their lunch. She never noticed the contemplative look Willow was giving them both.

They all decided to cut their lunch short not long after that. Willow and Gus had club meetings to go to and Luz and Amity just didn’t feel like dealing with the openly staring masses. The group split with the promise of seeing each other later and Amity headed for her locker with Luz to grab some things, grateful that she kept a lot of her stationery in there so she wasn’t totally without school supplies for the day.

Before she could even open the locker’s mouth, she felt a pair of strong hands wrap around her arms and bodily lift her off the ground. She struggled for a second, giving a small yelp of surprise before she caught sight of a flash of green hair and saw Emira dragging Luz along with her. She relaxed and let herself be pulled away by, who she now realized was, Edric. The twins marched the two of them into a nearby empty classroom and promptly shut the door, sealing it with a twirl of magic. The second they were alone Edric grabbed her by the shoulders and started checking her over like a mother hen fussing with her chicks.

“God, Mittens, you scared the hell out of us! Are you ok? Where have you been? We’ve been worried sick!” He rambled, reaching up to squish her cheeks so he could tilt her head back and forth as if searching for injuries. She swatted at his hands and dragged herself back a step out of reach.

“Stop it, Ed. I’m fine! I’ve been with Luz,” she said, only half irritated with his shenanigans. She was actually quite pleased to know the twins had been worried about her.

“You are not fine! What the hell happened!?” Ed asked urgently, reaching out to pull her into a hug that she only sort of resisted.

“I’m not a Blight anymore. I thought you knew. Everyone else apparently knows already,” she mumbled against him, eyes downcast. She felt him gasp and he pulled back to look down at her seriously.

“Mittens, don’t say that! Of course you are! You’re our sister!” He cried out, his voice strained with emotion. Amity grimaced and looked away.

“Not according to our parents,” she said sadly. The sting of the rejection hadn’t exactly been washed away in a day. Despite how much she disliked them, being so totally abandoned by her own parents had wounded her deeply. Being free of their criticisms and controlling machinations didn’t make it hurt that much less.

A loud sniff caught her attention and she turned to look at Emira, who was standing near a very quiet Luz, with her hands over her mouth, tears spilling from her eyes. Amity had never, ever seen Emira look that devastated. She wanted to say something… anything… but before she could even open her mouth, Emira was upon her, holding her tightly to her chest and sobbing over her. Amity put shaking arms around her older sister and returned the hug, tears prickling at her own eyes.

The twins had been a lot nicer and more protective of her ever since their little incident at the library. They still teased her a lot but more recently it had seemed to come from a place of genuine affection rather than a simple desire to give her a hard time. Years of the two of them actively picking on her had made her weary of the twins but she was very, _very_ glad to know they cared about her this much. She loved them dearly, despite it all. After all, the twins had to suffer through her parents too.

“Em… its ok. I’m ok,” she said shakily, trying her best not to break down. She really didn’t want to cry anymore. She’d already done plenty of that recently. But hearing Emira sob so openly was heart wrenching. She had no idea what to say to comfort her.

“It’s not ok! Amity, I am _so_ sorry! We should have been there! I know it’s not a good enough excuse but we got caught up at school! We were pulling another _stupid_ prank and lost track of time. If I’d known, I…” Emira whimpered and pulled her in even tighter. The fact that she had used her real name and not the nickname they always did was testament to how awful Emira must have felt. “At first we thought maybe you were with your friends, but then we heard mom and dad arguing and…” Another sob escaped her and she looked down at Amity desperately. “Oh stars, Amity did dad really _hit_ you?!”

Amity’s grimace and inability to meet her eye was all the answer Emira needed. She stared at Amity in horror for a second before wrapping her up in her arms again, squeezing her protectively. Amity could feel the tears running down her cheeks now and she suddenly felt so small in her big sister's arms. She clutched at Em’s cowl and buried her face against her, allowing herself to be comforted in a way she hadn’t for many years. They stood for moment, unashamedly holding each other, before Emira finally managed to pull herself together enough to loosen her hold on Amity. She didn’t let go though.

“When we found out what they did to you, we tried to reason with them but dad wouldn’t listen to us,” Edric said, setting a comforting hand on Emira’s shoulder. “He was seriously mad. I’m pretty sure the only reason he didn’t send the entire Emperor’s Coven after you is because they wanted to avoid turning this into an even bigger scandal than it is.” He winced and looked down at Amity with regret written across his face. “They wanted to keep it in the family. We tried to stop him but he… he cast you out, Amity.”

Amity felt ice run down her spine at that and stepped back from Emira to look at her siblings in shock. Luz stepped up beside her and touched her arm.

“Uh, what does that mean exactly,” she asked hesitantly, looking between the Blight siblings with concern.

“It… it’s a really old spell. It means he cut me completely out of the family,” Amity whispered, her voice breaking a little. She felt numb. It was the final rejection. One there was no coming back from. Her parents had well and truly abandoned her then.

“What?” Luz asked, not quite understanding the gravity of what Amity had said. Of course she wouldn’t. She didn’t really understand the dynamics of the high-family politics and the covens. Amity wished she shared the same ignorance.

“She literally can’t get into the manor or anywhere near our parents anymore. If she even tries to get close the ritual magic will stop her. It’s meant as the ultimate insult to a family member in our circles,” Edric answered sadly. Luz looked to him and Emira in confusion and gestured to the short distance between them and Amity.

“Wouldn’t that mean you can’t be near her too?” She asked. Edric looked insulted at the question.

“Of course not! We would never cut Amity off like that! We refused to do the ritual,” he half shouted, sounding horrified at the very idea. “Em kind of lost it when they tried to make us. She destroyed dad’s entire office. It was intense.” He glanced at his twin with open respect and awe, tinged with a little fear.

“Well good! There’s no way she’s gonna go back there anyway. I’m not letting your stupid dad throw her in the Conformatorium!” Luz snapped angrily. Emira looked at her sharply, her eyes suddenly glowing a faint blue.

“What did you just say?” She asked, her voice dangerously quiet. She turned to look at Amity, raw power crackling at the corner of her eyes. “Is that true?”

Amity was staring at her, wide-eyed and could only nod. Emira’s entire body stiffened and her shoulders hunched. Her eyes started glowing fully bluish white and she clenched her fists tightly. Her hair was fluttering around her as magic seeped out of her every pore. She looked absolutely terrifying.

“Oh geez. Em, calm down!” Edric said, reaching out a tentative hand to his twin. “You can’t fly off the handle again, we’re already on lockdown as it is!” Emira turned to look at him and snarled.

“I don’t care! You heard what they just said right? _I’ll kill him!"_ Her magic was starting to shake small objects in the room and Amity felt Luz grab at her hand. She didn’t blame her for being scared. Emira was a force to be reckoned with.

“If you do something stupid now we won’t be able to help her at all!” Edric snapped at her angrily and it seemed to do the trick. Emira let out a frustrated scream and grabbed the nearest chair with her magic, flinging it so hard against a wall that it shattered entirely. With the release of her anger, her magic dissipated and she collapsed, panting, to her knees. Shaking with shock at her sister’s outburst, Amity reached out to her. Emira took her hand and pulled her in for another hug, taking deep shuddering breaths to calm herself down.

“Yeah, that’s pretty much what happened at home. Except she broke a lot more stuff,” Edric said, giving his twin a pat on the shoulder. “Dad has had us grounded since then. We get escorted to and from school by some goons he hired. And these guys are good. We can’t even trick them with illusion clones. I guess he didn’t want us looking for you.”

When Emira had calmed down enough, she stood and pulled Amity up with her.

“I am so, _so_ sorry, Amity. I swear the second we get the chance we are leaving that hell hole. We’ll find somewhere safe we can all go together,” she said, staring down at Amity seriously. It was a sweet sentiment but Amity knew they couldn’t do that. Not right now anyway. It would be a disaster if they tried.

“Don’t do that. You know if you run father would never stop chasing you. He can’t lose all three of us. His reputation and plans would be destroyed. If you try to leave, it’ll only make things worse,” she said sadly. It was true and they all knew it.

“We can’t just leave you with nowhere to go! I know you’re smart but you’re just a kid! You’re our little sister, we’re supposed to take care of you!” Emira cried. Luz moved closer again and smiled reassuringly at Emira.

“She has somewhere to go. She’s living with me and Eda now. We’re taking care of her,” she said, turning her smile on Amity.

“Exactly. I’m really ok. Please don’t do anything stupid,” she pleaded. Emira’s face seemed to crumple and she snatched Amity into her arms again, whimpering.

“I love you so much, Mittens. I’m so sorry for how mean we’ve been to you. We’ll do everything we can to take care of you. We’re going to make this right somehow. I _swear_!” She whispered, pressing her face into Amity’s hair. She felt Edric join the hug, pulling Luz in as well until Amity was completely boxed in by the three of them. She could barely breathe with how tightly they were all holding her, but she found she didn’t really mind. She closed her eyes and leaned into it, thankful for the first time in ages, that she had siblings that loved her. Maybe her parents were jerks, but she still had family.

“I love you guys too,” she murmured.

When the hug was finally over, Edric checked his watch and winced at the time.

“We’ve gotta go soon,” he said apologetically. “If we miss any classes dad will hear about it and we need to stay on his good side right now if we wanna get some freedom back. But there’s one more thing.” He looked down at Amity. “Dad had pretty much all of your stuff destroyed but we saved as much of it as we could. It’s mostly just clothes but we grabbed some of your personal things too. We’ll get it to you later through a friend of Em’s,” he said, not elaborating on who that might be. The slight blush that tinged Emira’s cheeks peaked Amity’s interest but she didn’t mention it. Especially when Emira dug something out of her pocket.

“We also found this,” she said, handing it carefully to Amity. It was her gromposal note; crushed, a little more torn than before, but still intact. “I’m sorry we couldn’t save your diary; it was pretty much gone when we got home. But I found the note on the floor of the parlour.” She glanced briefly at Luz and then gave Amity a meaningful look. “We thought you might want it.”

Amity pocketed the note with a small thanks, a light flush spreading across her cheeks.

“Before we go, is there anything you need?” Edric asked. “We will do literally anything.” His tone said he was very serious and, while a few rather amusing options sprang to mind, Amity just shook her head.

“I’m really ok, guys,” she said. Emira gave her a look and smiled sadly.

“Please, Mittens. Let us at least make it up to you a little,” she begged. Amity frowned in thought. They clearly wouldn’t let it go but there was nothing she could think of. A flash of her conversation with Luz from the day before buzzed in the back of her mind and an idea suddenly came to her.

“Luz needs a Scroll,” she said simply.

“What?!” Luz cried out.

“Done,” the twins replied in perfect unison.

“Amity I have my phone; I don’t need a Scroll,” Luz said, uncomfortable with the idea of using the twins' need to make things right with Amity to her own benefit. Amity turned away from her siblings to give her a flat look.

“Yes, you do and you’re getting one. Don’t argue,” she said, her tone making it clear it wasn’t up for discussion. Luz found herself incapable of declining and just nodded, her eyes wide. She spied Edric and Emira snickering at her from behind Amity’s back and Edric making a whipping action with his arm. Luz couldn’t deny that. He definitely wasn’t wrong.

When they were done poking fun at her, Emira stepped around Amity to look down at Luz pleadingly. “Would you mind giving us a minute alone with, Mittens?” She asked. Luz smiled at her and nodded.

“Of course,” she replied. “I’ll just wait outside.” Edric unsealed the door for her and she stepped out for a moment, shooting Amity a quick smile before she closed the door. When they were alone the twins wrapped Amity up in one final hug.

“Just remember we love you, ok?” Emira said. “No matter what. We just want you to be happy with whoever makes you happiest.” The look she gave Amity was enough to let her know that they were being totally honest with her. For all their faults and previous arguments, her siblings loved her and would be there for her. She was sure that, as long as she still had the twins, she could deal with the loss of her old life.

“Actually, you being a big gay disaster makes you way cooler,” Edric said, giving her a teasing grin. Maybe she only needed Emira.

“Ed!” Emira laughed, swatting his arm and giving him a mock glare. “I was trying to be sincere, you moron.”

“Oh come on, you know I’m right,” he grinned and waggled his eyebrows at Amity, who could only roll her eyes, not quite able to hide her smile. It hadn’t taken them very long to fall back into the old habit of teasing her but she was glad for it. It was their own little dynamic after all.

With that, they pulled Luz back into the room and looked at her very seriously. The way their expressions morphed into identical protective glares would have terrified even the bravest of witches. Sometimes they could be downright creepy with how in sync they were.

“Take care of Mittens for us, Luz,” Emira said, the warning clear in her voice. “We’ll see you both the second we can get out of the house without an escort.” Luz nodded meakly, sure that if she ever crossed any of the Blight siblings, there would be hell to pay. With a quick final goodbye, the twins were gone as fast as they had appeared, running to their next classes before they would be missed. Amity let out a long breath and sank into a chair, head in her hands.

“You ok?” Luz asked gently, her hand coming up to touch Amity’s arm. She looked up at Luz and gave her a weak smile.

“I think I just need a minute to breathe. And think. The last few days have been a lot,” she said, her voice wavering a little. She didn’t want to be rude and ask Luz to leave, but she needed a moment alone to process things. Luz seemed to understand though.

“I need to get some books from my locker for our next class. See you there?” She asked. Amity hadn’t known it was possible to love Luz more but in that moment she did. She smiled at her gratefully and nodded. When Luz left, she sat in the quiet room, not really caring if she was skipping a class. The oppressive silence felt suffocating after a few minutes though so she stood and made her way outside, hoping that some fresh air would help clear her mind.

She found herself wandering into the bleachers beside the grudgby field and sat there, enjoying the quiet sounds of distant school chatter and the soft breeze against her face, the sun warming her cheeks. She took a deep, steadying breath and leaned back, trying to relax. She should have known that a quiet day at school would be too much to ask for after the drama of the last few days.

From the moment that she’d found herself on the Owl House doorstep, it had been such a mad rush of activity and conversations that she hadn’t had a single second alone to simply process what exactly had happened to her. Even going to sleep in her new room last night had been a blur because Luz had made sure she was totally exhausted by the time they’d needed to turn in for the night. She was forever grateful to Luz and Eda for taking her in and giving her a new home, but she still had so much to deal with emotionally that even they couldn’t really help with. Not when it was still so fresh.

Having Luz at her side almost constantly had given her a reprieve from the creeping negative thoughts that were still buzzing in the back of her head but here, alone on the bleachers, she felt them crawling out of the darker parts of her mind, ready to overwhelm her at the first sign of weakness. She took another deep, steadying breath in an attempt to push them back and let it out in a shaky huff.

Even knowing she still had the twins, her mind couldn’t stop circling her parents. How did you deal with being so utterly rejected by the people that had given you life? How did you deal with the nightmares that followed having your greatest fears realized in so visceral a fashion? Amity didn’t have answers to either.

Her parents had discovered her deepest secret and had reacted exactly as she had always feared they would. Very, _very_ badly. Whatever small part of her that had hoped maybe they would understand… would love her and accept her no matter what, had been shattered in an instant. How was she supposed to simply move on from that? She’d harbored the secret of her sexuality for so long, terrified of the consequences should it ever be revealed, and now she was living those consequences.

It hadn’t really been that hard to hide before. She’d been too young to care about boys or girls as anything other than potential friends and, when the time came that she awoke to her leanings, there hadn’t been anyone she had really been interested in. Sure, she’d had the odd minor crush here and there. Had even imagined what it might be like to kiss a girl on more than one occasion. But she’d never really felt the need to pursue anyone. It wouldn’t be worth the effort and potential problems.

Until Luz.

When Luz Noceda had come barreling into her life like the brightly coloured comet of energy that she was, Amity had found herself utterly at a loss. The annoying human had caused her nothing but trouble from the moment they’d met. But the more they kept inexplicably running into one another, the more she found herself looking forward to their encounters. The incident at the library had been the thing that sealed it for her oddly enough. That terrifying moment when they’d been half sewn to a book together, facing oblivion as they ran away from Otabin, Luz had cracked a stupid joke and, for some reason she couldn’t fathom, Amity had found her so charmingly silly that she had laughed. She’d let down all her barriers and simply allowed herself to enjoy the moment, harrowing as it may have been.

She hadn’t been able to get Luz out of her mind since then and had been so delighted when they’d actually become friends. It had taken a while and had involved some very painful healing of her relationship with Willow, but Amity had grown closer to Luz and she’d felt that little attraction grow into the strongest crush she’d ever had before. Then they’d danced at Grom in a magical duet that had been so perfect one could be excused for believing that they’d rehearsed it. But they hadn’t. They just worked that well together. Had such amazing chemistry that it had flowed like they were born to dance together. And that had been it. She’d been a complete stumbling, blindly and totally in love mess since then.

Luz terrified and exhilarated her all at once. The threat of being found out, of being rejected by the girl she liked, the thrumming anxiety over not knowing whether she even liked girls too, of being subjected to the ridicule of her peers and losing everything; none of it had been enough to keep her away. Luz was worth the trouble.

If only she felt the same way Amity did.

Sighing heavily, Amity slumped forward and buried her face in her hands, wishing for some reprieve from the negativity swirling in her head when she suddenly felt someone sit beside her. Startled, she sat up to see Willow innocently watching the sky like she’d been there the whole time. She didn’t speak. Didn’t even acknowledge that Amity was there and she wondered if she should feel awkward about sitting alone with Willow like this when their friendship was still so new. Honestly, she was too strung out to really feel much of anything. Willow looked down at Amity then, as if she’d heard her thoughts and raised an eyebrow at her.

“You look awful,” she said simply. Amity let out a snort.

“Thanks?” She muttered snarkily and Willow shrugged.

“Just being honest.” There was a slight playful hint to her tone that made Amity smile.

“I feel kind of awful,” she admitted, resting her chin in her palms and looking straight ahead again. They were quiet for a bit and it might have been almost peaceful if that slight tension between them hadn’t been there. They’d rekindled their friendship, sure; Amity had even publicly stood up for Willow and Luz, destroying her own reputation in the process to show them that she meant it. But they hadn’t been alone together since they’d become friends again and it felt… weird.

“So… are you staying with Luz at the Owl House?” The question came out of nowhere and she was sort of glad for the break in the heavy silence. She tried to muster up something to say that could carry the conversation but all she could manage was a small “yeah”.

There was another silence that seemed to drag on and Amity half wished someone would come over to start something, just to break this weird energy in the air. She hated that it felt so strange to be alone with Willow when they had been so close as children. She wanted things to be the way they were back then.

“Isn’t that a little awkward?” Willow asked casually, like she’d just asked for the time. The thought ‘not as awkward as this conversation’ sprang to mind but Amity threw it off irritably. She didn’t want to be a jerk to Willow and she wouldn’t let her dower mood be taken out on her first and newly reclaimed friend.

“Not at all. Luz and Eda have been… really great,” she said instead. Deciding maybe she should attempt to contribute to the conversation and also partly out of curiosity she added, “why would it be awkward?” Willow gave her a look that screamed the answer was the most obvious thing in the world and Amity should feel foolish for not knowing it.

“Well, you’re hopelessly in love with Luz right? I’d think that would make things pretty awkward,” Willow said tilting her head and giving Amity an innocent smile. Blood rushed to her cheeks and Amity shot straight up in her seat. She stared at Willow wide-eyed for a split second before her ability to communicate seemed to implode and she devolved into a stammering, incoherent mess.

“Psh, What? Wh- Who said anything about…” Oh stars, why was she babbling so much? “I’m not… Th-that’s so…” Stop laughing like an idiot! “I mean why would y-you think…” Just say something coherent for star’s sake! “ _What_?!”

The flat, unamused look Willow was giving her was enough to deflate all attempts at denial. Willow _knew_. She’d probably known for a while. Why bother denying it then? If she knew and wanted to give Amity a hard time about it, well she probably deserved it for how she’d treated Willow for so many years. Frankly it would be nice to just be able to talk about all the raging feelings inside her with someone. She grimaced and leaned back again, clutching her knees tightly in her hands and staring at them nervously.

“H-How did you know?” She stammered. To her surprise, Willow seemed to relax and smiled at her warmly.

“Amity, did you forget I have two dads? This stuff isn’t news to me. And you’re not exactly subtle,” Willow chuckled, giving her a very knowing look. “If you’re planning on keeping your feelings to yourself, you might wanna be less of a big gay disaster about it.”

“Why does everyone keep saying that today,” she grumbled, crossing her arms and definitely not pouting. Willow giggled brightly and gave her a friendly bump with her shoulder.

“Because it’s the truth. Have you forgotten how you were acting the day we played that grudgby match? All Luz has to do is breathe in your general direction and you go into total gay panic mode,” she said fixing Amity with an exasperated smile. “It’s really sweet but _wow_. You’re lucky Gus is so innocent or he’d know too.” Amity sank down on her seat, pressing the heel of her palms into her eyes with a loud groan. She could hear Willow chuckling at her, probably enjoying how Luz-like that had been.

“Why am I like this Willow? I’m so _bad_ at this!” She half whined. She couldn’t deny that Luz had to do very little to turn her into stammering, blushing mess. It just wasn’t fair of her to be so damn cute! How was a person supposed to function around that?

“Yeah, you really are,” Willow laughed lightly, clearly enjoying her suffering like the evil witch she was.

“Not. Helping,” Amity bit back, peaking up at her friend with a weak smile.

“Ok, ok,” Willow giggled. “I’m going to help you out but only because you’re apparently completely useless when it comes to girls.” She gave Amity a loaded smirk and chuckled at the glower she got in return.

“Not all of them. Just this one really stupid, cute one,” Amity huffed grumpily. One that had Amity wrapped around her little finger and didn’t even know it. She felt a smile tug at her lips. It was very freeing, being able to admit to all of this so openly. It felt good being able to just say out loud that she liked Luz and that the girl drove her crazy. Somehow, talking about her feelings for Luz made her feel less paralyzed by them.

“Why haven’t you just told her how you feel? My dads always say that it’s better to just tell someone you like them. That way you’ll know one way or the other and you can move on,” Willow said sagely. Amity stared at her like she might have gone mad.

“I can’t just _tell_ her!” She yelped, her voice jumping a few octaves higher. Willow gave her that same unamused look from before.

“Why not?” She asked. Amity sputtered and grasped for a reason but her brain came up empty.

“Because… because she’s _Luz_!” She said at last, as if that would somehow win this little argument. Willow didn’t seem to agree and raised an eyebrow at her again. When had she gotten so good at that? It made Amity immediately feel like she was being an idiot.

“ _And?”_ she asked slowly.

“And… and… ugh, Willow she doesn’t see me that way!” Amity cried out in frustration. “She likes someone else. She told me so herself.” That actually seemed to catch Willow’s attention and she tilted her head curiously.

“She actually said she doesn’t see you that way?” She asked, sounding mildly surprised. Amity hedged and looked away.

“Well… not in those _exact_ words, no. But _basically_ , yes.” It sounded flimsy, even to her.

“You lost me,” Willow said simply, giving Amity a look that demanded an explanation. Amity let out a groan and sat forward, reaching into a pocket to pull out her gromposal note.

“At Grom, when she asked me to dance… she said it was what _friends_ do,” she said, her voice laced with sorrow at the memory. “She only went with me because she saw my fear and wanted to make me feel better, because that’s just the kind of sweet, noble dork she is.” She eyed the offending note, hating the very sight of it. It was a reminder of the fact that Luz only saw her as a friend. Would probably never see her any other way. With a pained grimace, she crushed it in her hand and tossed it aside in defeat. “But ever since that stupid dance, my feelings have only gotten stronger and I can’t stop thinking about her! I don’t know what to _do!”_

Willow picked up the note from where it had landed at her feet and unfolded it gently. It was damaged but still pretty much intact, if you looked past the tape holding the torn parts together. Luz’s name was still clearly visible in Amity’s neat calligraphy across the top.

“I dunno, Amity, that dance didn’t look very friendly to me,” Willow said carefully. “How do you know she wasn’t just scared, like you were?” Amity’s head snapped up at that and she turned to look at Willow.

“What?” She whispered, suddenly very nervous for some reason. Willow gave her a small understanding smile, idly playing with the note in her hands.

“Have you thought about the possibility that maybe Luz likes you too but thinks _you_ have a crush on someone else?” Willow asked. “She’s definitely the type of person that would put your happiness before her own. Plus, she didn’t know you like girls at the time, right? Maybe you’re both having the same stupid misunderstanding.” Amity stared at her in absolute shock. It couldn’t be that simple.

She wanted to reject the possibility. There was no way it could be true, right? She searched her memory for any evidence at all that Willow might have a point. To her shock, the more she thought about it, the more she found. Luz had certainly seemed more attentive in the last few weeks. Especially after the grudgby match. There were a lot more lingering touches and she’d definitely seen her blushing on occasion. She thought of all the tender hugs and the way Luz had become more prone to grabbing for her hand. Had she really been trying to disguise her own feelings under a mask of friendship so that she wouldn’t interfere with Amity’s supposed crush on some random stranger?

Fully against her will, her whole face went red, right to the tips of her ears and her chest tightened. Had they really both been that stupid this whole time? Was it possible that they’d both misinterpreted everything in the exact same way? Willow let out a bark of laughter and Amity turned stunned eyes on her to see Willow pointing gleefully at her face.

“There it is!” She giggled. “Gay panic mode!” Amity wanted to be indignant but Willow’s open, happy laughter was infectious and she found herself laughing too. Willow gave her a genuine look of understanding after a moment and rested a hand on her shoulder.

“Look, there is still a possibility that she doesn’t feel the same,” she said hesitantly. “I’ve never spoken to Luz about this stuff because she never mentioned liking girls to me before, but wouldn’t you rather know for sure? You know Luz wouldn’t think any less of you either way.” She handed Amity the note back and she took it carefully, running her thumb over the crumpled edges.

“Just think about it, ok? For the record, I think your chances are pretty good,” Willow said, smiling at her warmly. Amity returned the smile and leaned over into her friend.

“Thanks, Willow,” she replied. They sat in comfortable silence for a moment, the awkward energy from before having completely vanished. It felt like old times. Amity found herself smiling happily.

“I’ve missed this,” she said quietly, giving Willow a shy look from the corner of her eye. Willow was beaming at her.

“I have too. I’m really glad we’re friends again, Ami.” That simple statement made Amity’s heart soar. Willow had called her Ami… she hadn’t done that in years. Hearing her say it relieved all the fears she had that maybe Willow was only doing this, being her friend again, because it would make Luz happy. Things between them really were healing and she was so very grateful. Deciding that she was done holding back her desires for physical affection out of some twisted sense of decorum, she threw her arms around Willow and dragged her in for a hug like when they’d been little. Willow’s happy giggle made her smile.

“Thank you for being my friend again, Willow. I’m so, so sorry about all the things I’ve said and done to you. I was awful,” she said sincerely.

“You were,” Willow agreed with a smile, hugging her back tightly. “But it wasn’t really your fault. Not all of it, anyway. And it’s in the past now.” When they pulled back, both girls were misty-eyed, wiping surreptitiously at their eyes. Willow gave her a little pat on the shoulder and stood.

“We should probably get back to class. Do you promise you’ll think about talking to Luz?” She asked. Amity smiled at her nervously but nodded as she stood.

“I’ll try,” she replied. Willow beamed at her again and turned to leave, waving at her as she went.

“Call me the second you do! I want all the details!” She called back and then she was gone, headed to her Plant Track class with a happy bounce in her step. Amity watched her leave, feeling much better after all the hassles of the morning. She felt ready to go back to class. To Luz.

The moment she found Luz in her next class, she knew she needed to do it that day. Luz lit up the second their eyes met and she waved Amity over with such excitement that Amity felt like she may as well have floated over to their shared table. The small, concerned, questioning look she gave Amity when she sat, asking if she was ok without actually speaking, made all the butterflies in her heart start fluttering at once.

Luz understood her like no one else ever had. Cared about her in a way that she still couldn’t quite handle but loved none the less. They connected on a level she couldn’t fathom and it was clear they had mountains of chemistry. She had to do it. Today. If she didn’t she would lose her nerve entirely and Willow would probably never stop calling her a gay disaster for the rest of her life.

The finality of her choice was strangely calming. She had been sure that the day she finally worked up the nerve to tell Luz the truth, she would be a nervous wreck. Thankfully Willow’s advice about finding out, one way or the other, had struck a chord with her. She was obviously still nervous and she would be heartbroken at a rejection. But she also knew Willow was right about the fact that Luz would never abandon their friendship over a confession and Amity would… she would move on if she had to. Eventually. Probably.

When the bell screamed at the end of the day and they bid farewell to their friends, Amity reached for Luz’s hand and stopped her before they could leave school grounds. Luz glanced down at their joined hands before looking up at her, smiling questioningly.

“What’s up?” She asked. Amity took a deep breath and looked into those big brown eyes she loved so much.

“Would you… take a walk with me? There’s something I wanted to…” She trailed off, her throat closing with nerves for a second before she cleared it. She was not going to bail. She was doing this. She took another breath and squeezed the hand in hers. “There’s something I’ve wanted to talk to you about.” Luz’s smile was so easy and accommodating. Like she would do anything Amity ever asked and be happy doing it.

“Sure, lead the way.” So it was that Amity found herself walking down a familiar path with Luz, hands intertwined. She led her along through the quiet forest, her heart pounding faster and harder the closer they got to her goal. Now that they were almost there, those nerves she’d been sure she would be feeling were rearing their annoying heads. She fought them down, tightening her hold on Luz’s hand to remind herself that she was still there, and pushed through the last few branches and bushes to stop at a clearing that led to a cliff. A very familiar cliff.

“Oh! It’s our tree!” Luz said, running forward to get a closer look, her eyes shining with delight. Amity followed behind her and smiled up at the tree. Luz had said it was _their_ tree. She was right of course. They’d made it. Together.

“I still can’t believe we made this thing by beating Grom in a magical dance fight,” Luz said, grinning at her widely, unknowingly mirroring her thoughts. Amity turned her eyes to the tree. It looked just as it had the night they’d created it. Tall and proud with a broad, healthy trunk that made it look centuries old. The pink petals adorning the top were lush and thick, glowing a faint light that was visible even in the late afternoon sun. The glow cast a lovely pattern on the area as the breeze rustled the leaves, scattering the faint pink light across the ground and their faces. The tree had become a landmark of sorts. People spoke of it and its strange nature often. She’d even heard Willow mention that they’d been studying it in her Plant Track classes. It had been dubbed The Witchwood.

It was special. It was breathtaking. It was theirs.

“Yeah, I’ve never seen magic combine like that before. It was really strange but it’s also so beautiful,” she mused, smiling warmly up at it. Her gaze drifted over to Luz, who seemed to be watching her.

“ _Eres hermosa_ ,” she muttered breathlessly, her eyes shimmering. Amity wished she knew what it meant because the way Luz had said it filled her with a warmth unlike anything she’d ever felt.

“What?” She asked tentatively. Luz seemed to blink herself out of a daze and realize what she’d said. She probably hadn’t meant to say it out loud. Her face flushed bright red and she stumbled back a step, scratching nervously at the back of her neck and grinning a big, too wide grin that was obviously fake.

“N-nothing, its… I uh… I was just.” Seeing Luz stammer at her like that calmed some of her own nerves and Amity gently touched her hand to stop her.

“It’s fine, you can tell me about it later. I… there’s a reason I wanted to come here,” she said. She took another calming breath and met Luz’s eyes. “Do you remember what you asked me after we beat Grom?” Luz tilted her head curiously but nodded.

“Sure… I asked who you wanted to ask out,” she replied easily. The brief thought that maybe Luz spent time thinking of that night too, if she could recall it so easily, gave Amity a little extra boost of courage. She hesitated, only for a second, before reaching into her pocket and pulling out the pink note that had caused so much trouble. A torn, tattered, crumpled, stepped-on and taped back together note that held the one secret she’d been most afraid to share. She stared at it for a moment before carefully holding it out to Luz with trembling fingers.

“This… is for you,” she said nervously. Luz stared at her in surprise.

“Amity, I really don’t need to know if you’re not comfortable,” she said earnestly. Amity wanted to laugh and cry all at once. How was it possible for a person to be this adorably dense? She was literally giving her the note and telling her it was for her and Luz still didn’t get it.

“No, I want you to. I think you should know,” she said, gently pressing the note into Luz’s hand. Luz matched her nervous gaze before looking down at the note. She carefully opened it and Amity watched as her eyes locked on the top half, where her name was written clear as day. Amity didn’t need to see it for herself to know precisely what it said. She’d spent hours composing it after all.

_LUZ,_

_Will you go to Grom with me?_

_Amity_

She watched Luz stare at the note, watched as her eyes widened, her hands starting to shake a little as she gripped the note.

“Oh,” she whispered. “ _Oh_!” She looked up at Amity, her voice raising suddenly. “What? Wait… _what?!_ Me? This whole time?!” Startled, Amity had to swallow back the nervous little moan she could feel building in her throat. Of all the reactions she had imagined, she hadn’t expected Luz to immediately have a minor meltdown. But Luz was looking between her and the note as if she was sure she’d somehow misread it. Silently wishing for a place to go die of embarrassment in peace, Amity wondered if maybe she should murder Willow for talking her into this. Luz’s sudden groan made her jump and she watched as she pressed her palms into her eyes much like Amity had done earlier that day.

“Oh my gosh I’m such an _idiot_. You were trying to ask me out and I said ‘that’s what _friends_ do’!” She cried out, turning desperate eyes to Amity who swallowed nervously. “Amity, I had no idea, I’m _so_ sorry.” Amity let out an uncomfortable little laugh and glanced away, not quite able to meet Luz’s eyes anymore. Her heart was thrumming in her throat and she could feel a burning in the corner of her eyes. If this was going to end badly for her, then she would at least try to be cool about it.

“That part kind of stung, but it’s ok,” she said, trying desperately to keep her voice calm. “You didn’t know and it’s not your fault if you don’t feel…”

“I would have said yes!” Luz shouted, clapping her hands over her mouth, eyes wide. She’d been a little louder than she’d intended. Their eyes met and Amity felt her brain fuzz over. Had she heard that correctly?

“R-Really?” She asked, hesitant to believe it even though Luz had literally yelled it at her. Luz looked about ready to explode, and explode she did.

“Heck yeah! Are you kidding?” She cried out. “You’re the coolest, smartest, prettiest most amazing person I’ve ever met! I would have loved to go to Grom with you, and _not_ just because we’re friends! I only said that because I thought you had a crush on someone else and I didn’t even know you _liked_ girls back then so I didn’t I think I had a chance and I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable or make things weird but I guess I’ve been flirting with you for ages like a moron anyway because I couldn’t resist and you never _said_ anything but _ay, Dios mío_ now I understand why you’ve been blushing so much and so much stuff makes sense now and I just… I… I’ve been talking for too long.” She trailed off, breathing heavily from the outburst and buried her very red face in her hands.

She’d been speaking so fast, without so much as pausing for breath, that Amity had a hard time following it all. It didn’t help that her mind had seized the second Luz had admitted that she would have said yes. It slowly caught up with her and the various parts of Luz’s little rant filtered into her mind.

“You would have said yes…” Luz looked up at her and when chocolate brown eyes met liquid gold ones, she nodded meekly.

“You’ve been flirting with me for _weeks_ …” That statement sent a flush across both their cheeks. Luz nodded again. There was one final, extremely important piece left.

“You _like_ me.” They stared at each other, both trying to figure out what to say. Amity felt a pressure building inside her, climbing from her toes to fill her chest and flood into her head. She suddenly found herself much closer to Luz, their eyes locked. They were both trembling. She could feel the tanned girl’s breath ghost across her cheeks. See the little flecks of dark and light browns in her eyes that made them so mesmerizing to look into. Her eyes darted down to her lips and something in Amity broke. After weeks of pining and frustration, there was no hesitation left in her.

Just as Luz seemed ready to speak, Amity surged forward and they were kissing.

When she pressed her lips to Luz’s for the first time, she felt an electrifying jolt run down her spine and Luz made an adorable little squeak but then she was kissing her back and Amity’s brain lost all higher functions.

Her hands found their way into Luz’s soft, dark hair and she shivered when she felt Luz slip her own hands around her waist, tugging her closer. She pressed in too, deepening the kiss and reveling in that wonderful tingling joy that was spreading from every spot they were touching. She couldn’t stop the little mewling noise that escaped her throat when she felt one of Luz’s hands travel up her back, leaving trails of fire in its wake and pressing her in even deeper. In her wildest dreams, she’d never imagined their first kiss to feel like this. It was electrifying. It was shy and nervous and they were both clumsy and shaking but there were stars bursting behind her eyes and it was pure perfection.

When they finally pulled back, breathing heavily, Luz pressed her forehead to Amity’s and her whole world became centered on the beautiful girl that had her arms wrapped around her.

“Wow…” she whispered, eyes half glazed over as she raked her fingers down through Luz’s hair and settled her hands gently at her neck. Luz grinned at her happily and Amity was delighted when she felt her shudder beneath her fingers.

“Yeah, wow... I can’t believe you just did that.” Amity pulled her head back a little to look more clearly into her eyes and gave her a look somewhere between annoyance and pure affection.

“We could have been doing that this _whole time_ ,” she exclaimed, unable to stop the smile spreading her cheeks. She felt a little robbed of the weeks they’d wasted being idiots but she was more than happy to make up for lost time. Luz let out a little giggle and smiled at her in shared exasperation at their own stupidity.

“We’re kind of stupid aren’t we,” she grinned and Amity laughed happily.

“I believe the term is ‘gay disasters’,” she said, trying and failing to stop the snort from escaping her throat.

“Ok, I have no idea where you heard that but it’s great,” Luz chuckled.

“And accurate,” Amity quipped. Luz snorted and rolled her eyes.

“And accurate. But seriously, I don’t want there to be any dumb misunderstandings this time so I’m just gonna say it, ok?” She pressed her forehead to Amity’s again and their eyes locked. “I really, _really_ like you, Amity. And again, just so we’re totally clear, I _don’t_ mean just as friends.” Amity laughed giddily.

“Pretty sure I got that at this point. I _really_ like you too, Luz.” Her cheeks almost hurt from smiling so much but she couldn’t care less. Luz liked her back. They’d shared their first kiss beneath their beautiful Witchwood tree and it had been perfect.

They both laughed happily and Luz pulled her in for a tight embrace. It was, by far, the best hug she’d ever had because she got to push her fingers back up into Luz’s hair and press her face into her neck and she could do this whenever she wanted now! She smelled amazing and it made Amity feel dizzy with joy. Why had she waited so long to do this? She felt fit to burst with the warm, glowing bliss that filled her to her very core. She never wanted to let go. She was startled, then, when Luz suddenly pulled back to stare at her in wonder.

“Wait, does this mean I get to call you my girlfriend now?” She asked breathlessly. Amity stared back for a second before a small smile spread across her lips, her cheeks pink and warm.

“Say it again.” Luz did her one better and kissed her. Maybe Amity needed to give Willow the biggest hug in the world for talking her into this.

  
  


* * *

Phew, that was a doozy of a chapter to write. It's almost half the length of the rest of the fic combined haha. But since it all happened in a day I did'n't really want to break it up. Hopefully it's edited enough to be passable but its 1am right now and i have to be up for work in like 5 hours so I'm just gonna leave it as is.

I dunno about the rest of you but I totally see Willow as the more grounded, mature friend in the group. She's a little shy but I can see her being the one they all go to for advice. I also imagine she makes REALLY good cookies for some reason.

Anyway, next chapter might take a little longer because of work stuff but hopefully it'll be out soon. Hopefully this extra long chapter with the big moment at the end will hold you over until chapter 6, where we explore the deeper plot a little


	6. A Deep Breath

The walk home through the woods was punctuated by a lot more giggling and blushing than it would be on any other day. Of course, it wasn’t just _any_ day. That day was special. It was magical in a way that had nothing to do with spell circles or glyphs. It had very quickly become Amity’s _favourite_ day, because she’d finally done it! She’d finally confessed. She had a _girlfriend_ now! She came to an abrupt halt at that thought and tugged on the hand held firmly in her own, grinning when the girl on the other end of it stopped to look at her in amused exasperation.

“ _Again?_ ” She asked as Amity stepped in close.

“Yes,” Amity replied, leaning in to press her lips to Luz’s for the umpteenth time that day. Despite her apparent protest, Luz returned the kiss with enthusiasm, reaching up to tug at her neck, pulling her in closer. The sensation sent delightful shivers down her spine but, when Amity tried to step in even further, their feet caught on each other and they tipped backwards with a combined cry of surprise. Apparently there hadn’t been any room left between them.

A few stumbling steps later, Luz let out a gasp as her back smacked against a tree, saving them from a fall. They were both giggling like idiots, flushed bright pink as they caught their breaths from the brief scare. 

“Smooth,” Luz teased, making Amity huff out a laugh as she leaned into her, pressing Luz into the tree.

“Shut up,” she snickered back. Their eyes met and for a moment they both froze, staring at one another as heavy tension built between them. Then Luz let out a little snort of laughter, pressing her forehead to Amity’s and they dissolved into joyful giggles again. It was all still so new and exciting. When Amity looked up, Luz was giving her a soft look that made the butterflies in her stomach flutter wildly. She swallowed hard. Her head was spinning in the most delightful way and she was pretty sure she was trembling all over but she didn’t care. Not when she got to pull Luz in for another sweet kiss.

The feeling of Luz’s lips against her own. The way her breath ghosted across her cheeks. The way she was threading her fingers into Amity’s hair, making her pointed ears twitch as her fingers grazed them. It made Amity deliriously happy and nervous all at once. Neither of them really knew what they were doing but it didn’t matter. She delighted in the way their noses would bump or their teeth would clash when one of them got a little too eager. They were total amateurs, but they could learn this together. She was a perfectionist after all. She was determined to be great at it, no matter how much practice it took.

Amity reveled in her newfound ability to simply kiss Luz whenever the mood struck, even if it turned them both into blushing, lovesick messes. For almost two months she’d pined over this girl she was sure she’d never be able to have, because what were the chances she liked girls too? Or that she liked Amity back? But now… She drew back to stare in awe at the flushed girl in her arms. Luz speared her with a smug little grin and tilted her head.

“Satisfied?” She asked snarkily. Amity had to swallow down the nervous little lump in her throat again. Titan, she liked her so much.

“Ju-just… needed to make sure it’s still real,” she said breathlessly. “That I’m not just having a really good dream.” Luz giggled against her mouth when Amity leaned in again. And again. And again. She was laughing and protesting the little pecks but she was kissing back anyway. Amity had no intention of stopping. At some point Luz managed to turn her head just in time to escape. Her lips accidentally grazed Amity’s neck just below her ear, making her squeak in surprise. Her whole body went rigid as a bright flush spread from the spot Luz had unintentionally kissed to cover her entire face. She could feel her ears fluttering wildly. _That_ was new.

“Luz!” She whined in protest, pressing her scarlet face into the other girl’s shoulder in an effort to hide, totally overwhelmed. Luz squeaked out an apology, her own face heating up to match Amity’s. They both stood frozen for a second before Luz reached up to give one of her wildly flapping ears a pinch that made Amity yelp.

“You’re not dreaming, you sap,” Luz chuckled, lightly pushing Amity back so she could look her in the eyes. “This is definitely real and I’m totally not complaining, but if we keep stopping to do this, _every five minutes_ , we’re never gonna get home.” She smirked at Amity playfully as she reached up to boop her nose with a finger. “Besides, this tree is kinda scratchy.”

“It hasn’t been _every_ five minutes,” Amity pouted at her but relented, stepping back to allow a still giggling and blushing Luz to push off the tree and take her hand again, leading her back onto the path they’d been following. It wasn’t her fault that kissing Luz was so nice. They’d been dancing around each other for so long, could the human really blame her for wanting to make up for lost time? Or for wanting to remind herself it was all really happening? That she wasn’t just trapped in some vivid gay fantasy that she never wanted to wake from?

When Luz laced her fingers with Amity’s and drew her in close, Amity decided she was alright with just walking for now. Even the novelty of walking hand-in-hand with the girl of her dreams, who was now also her _girlfriend_ , was enough to send her heart fluttering. Luz idly grazed her thumb over Amity’s fingers as they strolled down the path and she had to force down an excited, gushy squeal. She was embarrassingly smitten.

Flushed with joy, the two exchanged playful, teasing nudges with one another as they walked around the last bends in the path, bringing their home into view. What they found there was a surprise to both of them.

A familiar girl, dressed in a fashionably ripped, multi-track Hexide uniform, was having what appeared to be a very enthusiastic conversation with Hooty. The large fish hook in her ear glinted in the late afternoon sun. Amity recognized her as one of Luz’s friends from her brief stint in the Detention Track, though she couldn’t remember her name. They hadn’t had much opportunity to interact beyond the girl helping to save her and the rest of the school from a Greater Basilisk.

“Viney?” Luz called out in surprise. The girl, apparently named Viney, turned to them and perked up when she noticed the way they were pressed together, Luz’s arm still wrapped snugly around Amity.

“Well, look at you two!” She said, smirking at them mischievously. “Guess I’m gonna have some good news to take back with me!” Amity and Luz shared a confused look before stepping apart, though Amity was glad when Luz reached for her hand.

“What are you doing here?” Luz asked curiously, tilting her head in confusion. “Not that it isn’t great to see you, but I didn’t know you even knew where this place was.”

“You mean other than talking to this fascinating house demon? You never told me you lived in a _living house_ , Luz! That’s so cool!” Viney gushed, turning to look up at a preening Hooty.

“Finally! Someone who _gets_ me!” He puffed proudly. “We’ve been talking for ages coz you guys took _so_ long to get home, hoot!” Viney snorted, eyeing the two of them with a smirk.

“Gee, I wonder what could possibly have kept you,” she snickered, wagging her eyebrows at them. Both girls flushed bright red but Luz seemed to take it mostly in stride.

“We got… held up,” she said, shooting a little grin at Amity, who only blushed more. It was one thing to be confident enough to kiss Luz up against a tree when it was just the two of them. It was entirely different when faced with other people she barely knew. She was still new to being ‘out’ after all. Hex, she was barely out as it was. Very few people knew the truth and years of keeping her secret made it strange to be open about it in front of others. She huffed awkwardly, trying to cover her embarrassment as she turned to Viney, eager to change the subject.

“Did you really just come here to talk to the bird-tube? How can you stand listening to it for so long?” She asked, genuinely curious how anyone could listen to that grating voice for more than a few seconds. Hooty squawked indignantly.

“Rude!” He grumped. Viney laughed but shook her head.

“Nah. As interesting as this guy is,” Viney said, jamming her thumb in Hooty’s direction, “I’m actually here as a favour to the twins.” Amity’s eyes widened at that.

“Ed and Em sent you?” She asked. She’d never officially met Viney before today but it was feasible that she knew Amity’s mischievous siblings. They were notorious trouble makers afterall. It wouldn’t surprise her if they’d had encounters with the Detention Track students and their hidden maze of tunnels in the school. Actually, it would explain a lot about how the twins seemed able to just appear out of nowhere on a whim.

“Yup,” Viney replied, raising her hand to draw a little spell circle in the air. The resulting levitation spell lifted several bags into view from around the side of the house, depositing them carefully in front of the door. “They asked me to bring these to you.” Amity was momentarily stunned as she stared at the fairly large pile of her belongings. There was a lot more than she had expected. From the way the twins had been talking, she’d thought she would be lucky to get just a few pieces of clothing. It looked more like they had rescued her entire closet and then some.

The absolute relief of knowing she wouldn’t have to keep borrowing clothing from Luz for the rest of her life was palpable. She’d already been worrying about what she would wear in the morning since Luz only had so many school uniforms. Besides, as often as she’d secretly fantasized about getting to wear Luz’s hoody, it had always been reciprocal in her sappy romantic daydreams. She didn’t want to be a wardrobe hogging mooch on top of everything that Luz and Eda were already doing for her. Not to mention she wanted to be able to see Luz in something of hers as well.

“Oh my gosh! This is great! You guys saved so much stuff!” Luz gasped. “This is really cool of you, Viney! Thank you!”

“Don’t worry about it. Mittens here is Em’s little sister, I’m happy to help,” Viney said, grinning devilishly when Amity scoffed at the use of her nickname. The fact Viney even knew that name sparked a thought in her though and she narrowed her eyes. Emira _had_ seemed awfully flustered when Edric had brought up her mysterious ‘friend’ after all.

“How _exactly_ do you know my sister?” She asked suspiciously. It couldn’t be what she suspected, could it? Surely Emira would have mentioned it. Viney gave Amity a knowing look.

“You didn’t think you were the only one didja? Em is just a lot more discreet than you, girl,” she said. Luz’s eyes widened comically as she gasped out loud.

“ _No way!_ You and Emira? For real?!” She squealed. Amity, on the other hand, was far from excited. Viney didn’t even need to confirm it. The implication was obvious. Her sister had a girlfriend. Had apparently had one for a while. She was like Amity. Emira had just never thought to tell her little sister that they shared something this big. Pain bloomed in Amity’s chest. A deep, lonely ache that stifled her breath a little. She hadn’t had to go through all of this alone. She hadn’t needed to be so confused and unsure for so many years. Maybe if she’d had someone to talk to, things wouldn’t have gone so horribly wrong…

“Oh, no wonder she was so mad!” Luz gasped suddenly. It made sense. Emira’s reaction to what her parents had done to Amity had been a lot more _visceral_ than Edric’s. Especially considering the fact that she was usually the more level-headed of the twins. After all, it could have easily been her. Viney grunted and rubbed uncomfortably at her neck.

“ _Yeah_ , Em was pretty messed up when she told me about all this. She did say that your parents wouldn’t handle this sort of thing well but I didn’t think they’d take it _this_ far. I don’t think Em did either,” she admitted, turning to look sympathetically at Amity. She was valiantly fighting the burning sensation in her eyes, trying hard to stifle the feeling of betrayal that was settling in her stomach but it was probably written very clearly across her face. Luz’s arm settling around her shoulders helped though.

“Why didn’t she ever say anything? She’s known about my feelings for Luz at least since Grom but I… I had _no idea_ …” She murmured, her voice wavering. Viney sighed sadly and gave her arm a comforting pat.

“She feels awful about it, trust me,” she said, looking directly into Amity’s eyes to make it clear she was being sincere. “It took a lot to get her to calm down enough to function yesterday. I promise, Em never meant anything by it. She was just scared of what would happen if anyone found out, just like you. She’s wanted to talk to you for ages, but she was terrified. You two _should_ talk about it now though. You both need it.” That, at least, Amity could understand.

She’d been devastated at first, when her siblings had found out about her secret, terrified that they would out her, whether intentionally or not. Ed clearly knew about Em and Viney but the twins did everything together so it made sense. Amity’s own relationship with her older siblings had only just recently started to improve. She supposed she couldn’t blame Emira for being afraid of sharing something so monumental with Amity when it had been her mission to get them busted for their antics for so long. She leaned into Luz and took a steadying breath, feeling the tension in her shoulders ease.

“Y-you’re probably right,” she managed, pushing down hard on the lingering sense of betrayal. She didn’t want to be angry at her older sister when she’d seen how distraught she was. Not when she knew exactly how dangerous it was to be gay in their family. Being mad at Em wouldn’t change what had happened.

Amity was frankly in a better situation than her sister at the moment anyway. She got to be open about who she was if she wanted. Emira would have to keep hiding or risk their parent’s considerable wrath. She met Viney’s eye and smiled at her weakly. “Can you ask her to text me or something? And… tell her I understand? I’m not gonna lie and say I’m not hurt but… I do get it.” Viney smiled at her gratefully.

“Of course I can. I’ve actually gotta get going,” she replied. “I promised the twins I’d report back when you got your stuff.” Luz leapt forward to give her a parting hug.

“Thank you, for bringing me my things,” Amity said sincerely. “I appreciate it. You didn’t have to.” Viney chuckled when Luz let her go and shrugged nonchalantly.

“Don’t sweat it. I’m scoring major girlfriend points right now,” she said with a wink. “I’ll see you two cuties around ok?” With that, she trotted off, calling back a promise to come have another chat with Hooty when she had the time.

“Byyyyyyye new friend!” Hooty drawled from his door. “I miss you already!” Luz and Amity grimaced, hurriedly carrying the pile of bags into the house to get away from Hooty before he decided he wanted to keep talking. It took some effort, but they managed to dump all of her things into her new room. The prospect of having to unpack it all was daunting though. Luz glanced at her and grinned sheepishly.

“You wanna do this now or can we do something else? Like literally anything else…” She said, giving Amity the biggest puppy dog eyes she’d ever seen, leaning in close with her hands clasped near her chin. Amity’s heart seized at the sight. Luz had no right to be that adorable!

“Oh come on, that’s not fair. You can’t make that face at me and expect me to be able to say no!” Amity reached out to playfully shove the offending face away, making the other girl laugh heartily.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about! This is my regular face,” Luz giggled innocently. Amity snorted and rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, _sure_ it is. Anyway, I don’t really feel like dealing with this right now either,” she said, gesturing to the pile of bags. “And we have a ton of homework to do. I could actually use your help catching up with some of the classes if you don’t mind,” she added. Luz’s eyes lit up as she bounced happily on the spot.

“I’d love to tutor you!” She cried enthusiastically. “Obviously I can’t help you with the actual spells but I know all the theory really well! And maybe you can help me figure out some new glyphs!” That idea was certainly intriguing. Luz’s own personal brand of magic was fascinating to Amity. It would be interesting to see how she went about discovering new glyphs.

They made their way downstairs together, where Amity set about getting their school supplies arranged on the coffee table while Luz headed into the kitchen to snag them something to nibble on before joining her on the sofa. Eda and King hadn’t returned from the market yet so it was blissfully quiet in the house as they dug into their homework and snacks.

Luz’s thorough knowledge of magical theory was incredibly helpful in getting Amity caught up on all of her new classes. Switching tracks mid-year was usually hard enough as it was, now Amity had eight new, very different subjects to learn on top of her abominations with almost no experience in any of them. Thankfully, Luz was an enthusiastic tutor. She was a lot smarter than people gave her credit for and was eager to discuss each new topic in as much detail as Amity wanted. Luz worked incredibly hard to make up for her lack of natural magical ability. Being a dedicated, hard-working student herself, Amity admired Luz’s diligence in the pursuit of learning everything she could about magic.

They’d been drifting closer on the sofa as time passed and it wasn’t long before they’d shifted from sitting side-by-side to reclining together instead, sharing the book in Amity’s hands as they discussed their theories on the subject of abominations. Of course it was a little hard to focus on the intricacies of summoning magic considering her current position.

Luz was propped up in the corner of the sofa while Amity rested with her back against Luz’s chest, head set comfortably under her chin. When she tightened her hold on her waist and leaned down to press a quick kiss to the top of Amity’s head before propping her chin there again, Amity decided this was absolutely her favourite new way to study, distractions and all. She already loved learning new magic; getting to cuddle and kiss her girlfriend while she was doing it just made things infinitely better.

They’d been at it long enough for the sun to start setting and, as the lights in the house came to life with the growing darkness, their quiet, giddy little study bubble was burst by the front door swinging open. A tired-looking Eda and King trudged into the house just in time to catch them in the midst of a chaste kiss. Eda let out a loud laugh, pointing at them dramatically from the doorway.

“Hah! I _knew_ it!” She cried triumphantly and, if it weren’t for the fact that Luz was still holding onto her, Amity probably would have fallen off of the sofa with how hard she’d startled at the intrusion. Eda didn’t seem to care that she’d interrupted them, turning to King with a huge grin plastered across her face. “Cough it up, furrball. I win!” She smirked, holding out her hand with a grabbing motion. 

King griped under his breath as he pulled a bag of snails from somewhere within his collar and tossed it at Eda’s head. It smacked her square in the nose before dropping into her hand, but she cackled gleefully as she counted the coins anyway, ignoring the grumpy, grumbling demon that was now stomping further into the room, his arms crossed.

“Eda! What the heck?” Luz yelped as she and Amity scrambled to sit up on the sofa. Her face was about as red as Amity’s but that didn’t stop her from glaring at her mentor in annoyance.

“Oh come on, kid. You think I was gonna pass up the chance to win a bet against King?” Eda laughed, waving the little bag of snails in the air, as if to taunt King further. He let out a humph, turning his head away in an adorable pout.

“You were taking _bets_?!” Amity asked indignantly. Had she been so obvious? Actually… yes she probably had been. But still!

“Obviously. King was convinced you would never work up the nerve to make a move but I could tell you have the stuff. And it only took two days! Impressive,” Eda said, winking at Amity. Luz huffed indignantly.

“How do you know I wasn’t the one that asked _her_ out?” She grouched playfully. Eda could only snort at her apprentice.

“Come on, kid, be serious. You’re an oblivious idiot when it comes to this stuff. Blushy Blight over there was way more likely to break first,” she said, jamming her thumb in Amity’s direction. Eda had a point. But, in Luz’s defence, she hadn’t exactly been the only oblivious one. They’d both been stupid about the whole thing and Amity had needed a push to make a move in the end.

“Actually, Willow had to talk me into it,” she admitted with a sheepish grin. Luz turned to her with an amused smile.

“Really? I’ll have to give her the biggest hug tomorrow!” She said, unknowingly mirroring Amity’s own thoughts on the subject. Eda simply shrugged as she tucked the little money bag into her hair

“Well, the point is you did it so I won either way.” She paused and looked down at them with an uncomfortable expression. “Come to think of it, this could be kind of an issue. I joked about it before but I have even more reason to say that doors will be kept open in this house now,” she declared. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you two figured this all out but you’re also living together now. Am I going to need to have a talk with the two of you about… this stuff?” She asked, waving her hand between them awkwardly. Amity and Luz both yelped, darting as far apart as the sofa would allow, their faces bright red.

“Eda, we’re only fourteen! We literally just started dating this afternoon! We do _not_ need to talk about _that_!” Luz whined, her eyes wide and embarrassed as she patted her burning cheeks, trying to hide her very obvious blush. She looked absolutely terrified at the thought. Amity couldn’t agree more, nodding vigorously from her side of the sofa. She was _not_ ready to think about anything that might require closed doors or _talks_ … Just the implication was enough to send her brain spiraling into a mild panic. Kissing Luz was great but even that one tiny glimpse into… _more_ , when Luz had accidentally kissed her neck, had been enough to completely break her. Nope. Not ready. Not for a long, _long_ time.

Eda stared them down before, seemingly satisfied, she let out a long, relieved breath. “Thank the Titan, because I don’t think I’m ready to have that conversation with you either. Just…” She pulled a face, swallowing thickly. “If things change and you _do_ need to talk, come to me will ya? I’m happy for you kids, I really am, I just want to make sure you’re not getting into anything you’re not ready for.” Amity was genuinely touched at how much Eda cared but the thought of talking to her about any of this was mortifying. Eda left for the kitchen in a hurry, eager to get as far from this conversation as possible with an oblivious King following after her, demanding snacks as compensation for his loss.

Once alone, both girls took a moment to just breathe, trying to calm down. The air in the room was incredibly awkward now and they were both looking anywhere but at each other. Amity took some comfort in the fact that Luz seemed just as uncomfortable as she did. At least they were on the same page about this particularly sensitive subject. 

When she’d sufficiently calmed her racing heart, Amity glanced at Luz apprehensively. Thanks to Eda’s embarrassing little offer, there was a gaping distance between them that needed to be closed. She’d been enjoying herself before the rather abrupt intrusion and wanted to get back to what they’d been doing, thank you very much. She just wasn’t quite sure how to go about it.

Should she ask? That seemed awkward. It had happened naturally before, so should she just wait it out and hope they’d cuddle again? That was far too uncertain, especially considering how weird the energy still was in the room. She glanced over again and noticed Luz was giving her the same longing look that she knew was on her own face.

Deciding to throw caution to the wind, she shifted closer until they were sitting next to one another again, not quite touching, but close enough that it wouldn’t take much. Luz caught on immediately and grinned, tension melting from her as she opened her arms to accept Amity into them. Amity sank back against her girlfriend, thankful when the weird energy between them dissipated and they settled into the sofa with contented sighs. Ok, so no need to ask then. Apparently Luz was just as eager to cuddle as she was. Good to know.

“I’m glad we don’t have to worry about hiding this from Eda,” Amity admitted, leaning her head back onto Luz’s shoulder. It was comforting, knowing Eda wasn’t judging them at all. She’d never have gotten acceptance like that from her parents. The very thought of ever being able to snuggle like this with Luz in Blight Manor was laughable.

“Nah, Eda is cool, despite all that… other stuff,” Luz chuckled, tossing an exasperated grin at the kitchen before turning to look down at Amity again. “Did Willow really talk you into telling me?” She asked, her look becoming teasing. Amity laughed and nodded.

“Yeah, she did. She gave me a _really_ good pep talk,” she admitted. Thinking about it made her sit up suddenly and Luz gave her a curious look. “Actually, that reminds me, she wanted me to call her when I told you. Do you mind?” She asked, looking back at Luz questioningly. She pretended to think on it for a second before yanking Amity back into her arms again.

“Only if we do it like this,” she said with that lopsided grin of hers. She was doing that a lot today and it was frankly quite unfair. How was Amity expected to resist that? Heart fluttering, she decided she just wouldn’t bother resisting at all. She was perfectly ok with getting to snuggle Luz all she wanted, even during a call with Willow. With a hastily drawn spell circle, Amity summoned Eda’s crystal ball from across the room so she could call their mutual friend. It didn’t take long for the girl to answer, her eyes lighting up when they landed on Amity and Luz curled up together.

“Oh my gosh! Amity, did you…?” She hesitated, glancing between them before raising her eyebrows questioningly. Amity couldn’t stop the smile that spread across her lips as she nodded. Willow let out a loud, excited scream. “You did it! Oh my gosh I’m so happy for you guys!” She gushed, beaming at them brightly. Luz leaned in over Amity’s shoulder to get closer to the crystal ball, making her flush as their cheeks brushed.

“It’s all thanks to you! You are the greatest friend _ever_ , Willow!” She said, pressing a kiss to Amity’s temple, giggling when her already rosy cheeks deepened to a rich crimson. Amity huffed playfully and pushed her away before turning to Willow.

“She’s right. You’re the best, Willow, _thank you_! Honestly, I don’t think I’d have been able to do this without you.” Willow rolled her eyes at her good-naturedly, mumbling something that sounded distinctly like ‘disaster’.

“I have my moments,” she said aloud. “Now spill! I want to know everything! How did it happen?!” Amity let Luz tell her the story, enjoying the way she gushed about it all like it had been some epic romantic scene from a fanfiction. Honestly it had actually been kind of embarrassing and awkward but she wouldn’t trade that moment for anything. Not when the results had been so perfect. When Luz moved onto the tale of their walk home however, Amity raced to clamp a hand over her mouth, eyes wide and face bright red.

“Luz! I don’t think Willow needs to hear about _that_ ,” she said hurriedly, giving her a look somewhere between pleading and stern. Luz grinned sheepishly.

“Yeah… probably not. Guess I got kinda carried away,” she chuckled, pulling Amity’s hand away from her mouth to give it an apologetic squeeze. When Amity looked back at the crystal ball, Willow wagged her eyebrows at her with the smuggest look she’d ever seen. Oh stars, this was going to be a thing now, wasn’t it? Willow was never going to let her live this down. She found herself smiling at the thought.

“So are you guys gonna be open about this at school or do I need to run interference to help keep it quiet?” Willow asked. Amity and Luz shared a look at that.

“It’s up to you. I don’t care if people know but I get it if you wanna keep it quiet,” Luz said gently. Amity hesitated. _Did_ she want to keep things quiet? She hadn’t actually considered coming out to the public now that her parents knew, too distracted by everything that had been happening to even think about it. The incident with Boscha had been terrifying, yes, but that had mostly been because she hadn’t wanted another choice stolen from her. She’d already been through enough without being forced out of the closet on top of everything.

She’d stopped caring about appearances thanks to Luz and her new friends but this was something entirely different. Amity had become a private person over the years out of necessity, but was that still what she wanted to be? As a kid, she’d been a lot more open. It hadn’t been until she’d lost Willow’s friendship that she had started to put up those walls Luz had so happily knocked down. Now that she’d shed her ‘little miss perfect’ façade, was she ready for everyone to know the real her?

To her surprise, the thought didn’t scare her nearly as much as she had expected it to. Maybe it was because she had Luz by her side now. Maybe it was because she knew Willow, Eda, the twins and even King (Gus didn’t know yet but she was fairly certain he’d wouldn’t care) all accepted her as she was. Or maybe she was just finally _comfortable_ with who she was and didn’t feel like she needed to hide it anymore. 

What did it matter what everyone else thought when all the people that were actually important to her were ok with it? What did it matter when _she_ was ok with it? A part of her was almost excited to flaunt it a little. What better way to stick it to her jerk parents than to show the world who she really was so they couldn’t deny it? Amity smiled at Luz warmly then.

“No, it’s ok,” she said at last. “I didn’t want Boscha yelling it to everyone in the cafeteria today, but that doesn’t mean I want to hide either. The only people who I was really worried about finding out already know anyway and there’s not much they can do to me at this point. I don’t care what people think anymore. If they don’t like that we’re together, they’ll just have to deal with it,” she said resolutely. Luz beamed at her proudly and squeezed her into a tight hug, nuzzling their cheeks together with a gushy little squeal.

“So I get to show off that I got the prettiest girl at school to be my girlfriend?” She asked, giving Amity a smug little smirk that made her heart stutter.

“Technically, _I_ got _you_ to be my girlfriend. But yes, you do.” Ok, if she got to flirt this openly with Luz whenever she wanted then she was pretty sure she was going to enjoy being out. Willow rolled her eyes at the two of them playfully.

“You guys are such saps,” she said, laughing when Luz stuck her tongue out at her. A loud sneeze from the kitchen interrupted them and they heard Eda groan.

“For the love of Titan, I think I’m allergic to all the mushy nonsense going on in there,” she grouched, just loud enough to make sure the girls heard. They all snickered at that. “Will you two get off the crystal ball and come eat dinner already? I want to turn in early tonight,” Eda added loudly.

With a quick goodbye to Willow and a plan made to see her at school the next day, the girls ended the call. They made their way into the kitchen together, where King and Eda were already eating what appeared to be take-out of some kind. Not the healthiest of meals but, from what Luz had told her about Eda’s culinary experiments, it was probably the safest option. Amity resolved to learn how to cook for them. It was the least she could do.

As they sat to eat, she noticed that Eda looked particularly exhausted. Dark circles had formed under her eyes and her movements were sluggish. She’d seemed pretty quick to tire over the last two days actually. 

Amity glanced over at Luz, who was devouring her meal with unabashed gusto, chatting enthusiastically with King at the same time. She felt a smile tug at her lips. Stars, she was even adorable when she was completely ignoring all forms of table etiquette. She didn’t seem at all fazed by Eda’s apparent exhaustion though, so maybe it wasn’t worth worrying over. Of course that could be because the girl was more focused on her food. Deciding to ask Luz about it later, Amity finished her meal and was quick to try to gather the plates. Eda waved off her offer to do the washing up though, claiming she would just use a little magic to deal with it in the morning.

“Stop worrying so much, kid. You’re gonna get more wrinkles than me. I may not act like it all the time but I’m the adult here. You let me worry about taking care of you and not the other way around, yeah?” She said, giving Amity a look that told her Eda knew exactly what she was doing. She sighed, glancing away uncomfortably. She hated feeling like a burden. Reluctantly setting the dishes down, she followed the others into the living room. Eda yawned loudly, stretching her arms over her head with an audible cracking noise before turning to the teens and giving them a serious look.

“I need to make an ingredients-run at The Knee for my potions business tomorrow. I’m leaving early so you’re probably not going to see me before you go to school but I’ll be back in time for dinner. Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone,” she said, eyeing them for a moment to make sure they understood. “Amity’s in charge while I’m out.”

“What?!” Luz and King yelped in unison, staring at Eda in shock. King pointed an imperious paw at Amity, glared at her darkly. His murderous gaze only made him look more adorable.

“Usurper!” He yelled furiously. Eda lifted him off the ground with a roll of her eyes and tucked him under her arm, totally unfazed by his squirming.

“She’s clearly more responsible than the rest of you knuckleheads,” Eda said simply, shrugging nonchalantly. Amity smirked at them and crossed her arms smugly, making Luz huff. The slight upward tick of her lips didn’t exactly sell her grumpy façade.

“I’m gonna hit the nest, now. Don’t go to bed too late, kids,” she said, stifling another heavy yawn as she made her way upstairs with a still struggling King. The girls went back to the sofa and Luz lifted the abominations book they’d been reading earlier, flipping through it once they’d settled in. She wanted to figure out the glyph for summoning one but Amity had been reluctant to help her with it. 

Abominations weren’t like most magic spells. You had to control them after they were summoned after all and, without a magical connection to her summoned creature, Luz would have no way of stopping the thing from simply dissolving. Or worse, outright attacking her. Grimacing at that thought, Amity set her hand on the book, lowering it so Luz would look up at her. She hesitated. 

Luz was stubborn by nature. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe Luz would eventually figure out the spell. The girl had a knack for these things apparently. But the thought of the dangerous experiments it would involve made Amity distinctly uncomfortable. The last thing she wanted was to have an argument with her about the dangers of abomination summoning on their first official day as a couple though, so she decided to go with a distraction instead.

“Has Eda seemed a little tired to you?” She asked. “It’s just, witches usually get energy from our magic and Eda is pretty powerful so it seems strange for her to be so fatigued all the time. Is this normal for her?” Luz glanced up at the stairs, her face twisting up with worry that she’d clearly been hiding for a while. She set the book aside with an anxious little sigh.

“Eda is… well…” She seemed hesitant, frowning as she thought. After a moment and a few glances between the stairs and Amity, Luz sighed again, sitting forward. “You live here now so I guess it’s kind of important that you know the whole truth. You remember I mentioned that Eda has a curse, right?” She stared at Amity defensively. Amity couldn’t blame her, curses had a certain stigma to them. 

“I do. I’ve heard about it before actually, but I don’t know any details,” she admitted. It wasn’t common knowledge for kids her age, but her parents had spoken often of the wild, cursed Owl Lady that was evading the Emperor, so Amity had at least known that much. “If her curse is draining her this much then… I didn’t realize it was this bad…”

“It’s not,” Luz said hastily. “Or at least… it wasn’t. She was fine when I first got here but she’s been getting tired quicker lately. I think it’s getting worse and she’s just trying to cover it up.” She frowned, staring down at the clenched fists resting on her knees. Her shoulders were hunched, her eyes clouded over. Amity reached out to gently take her hands, running her fingers over her them in what she hoped was a comforting gesture. She hated seeing Luz so worried but she may well have a very good reason to be.

“How long has she had it?” She asked hesitantly. Curses were tricky. She was no expert of course, but she’d heard stories. From what Amity knew of them, the longer you left them untreated, if they were treatable at all, the worse they tended to get. Luz sighed and shook her head.

“Since she was a kid. She doesn’t remember how she got it but, if she doesn’t take an elixir every day, she turns into this big, feathery owl demon with black eyes.” Well, now she understood the alias and taste in decor.

“ _Oh_. That… explains a lot,” she said. A worrying thought plagued her though. Why did Luz know what Eda’s cursed form looked like? The implication was more than a little unnerving. “Has… has that happened before? Has she ever transformed around you?” Luz winced, her hands tightening under Amity’s. 

“Once, yeah. But it was kind of my and King’s fault,” she rushed to say. “Eda is usually really good about drinking her elixirs. I was just pestering her to teach me magic and she was already weak that night. I exhausted her before she could drink it and she transformed. She nearly destroyed Hooty...” She froze at that last admission before chuckling awkwardly, trying to cover her slip up. “On the _bright_ side, that was the night I learned the light spell.” Ignoring the painful pun and very obvious deflection, Amity was about to ask for details when they were interrupted by a little bwoop-like sound coming from Luz’s phone that was resting on the table.

Luz scrambled for it, giving Amity a weak grin. “Sorry, I should check this. It’s probably my mom.” She turned her focus entirely to the phone and Amity pursed her lips. Luz clearly didn’t want to discuss what must have been a pretty traumatic night. It was eating her up inside not to know but she also didn’t want to upset Luz anymore than she already was. She’d let it go. For now. 

So instead of pestering her for answers, she watched curiously as Luz typed a rapid message into her phone. Amity could see the screen clearly but she couldn’t understand anything on it. Frowning, she tried to make out the words, conscious of the fact that she was being a little rude by reading over Luz’s shoulder like this, but her curiosity was getting the better of her.

“Luz, what language is that?” She asked after a few back and forth messages. Luz jumped a little at the sudden question, glancing between Amity’s curious face and the texts from her mother. 

“This? It’s Spanish,” she said, gesturing to an earlier message on the screen. “See? You’ve heard me say hola right? It means hello. And this word just means mom.” Amity hummed thoughtfully.

“Is it a commonly used language on Earth? I’ve never heard anything like it on the Boiling Isles,” she asked. Luz shrugged a little as she set her phone back down.

“In some places, sure. I mostly just use it with my mom though,” she said as she slugged a casual arm across Amity’s shoulders to pull her into her side, like it was the easiest thing in the world. Amity felt heat rise in her cheeks but she certainly wasn’t going to complain. A comfortable silence settled between them as she considered her next words.

“Could you teach me?” She asked, giving Luz a hesitant little smile. Luz looked genuinely surprised at the request.

“You want to learn Spanish? Really? But it’d be totally useless to you here,” she said incredulously. Amity smiled and shrugged, feeling the warmth in her cheeks grow.

“It’s not useless if we can speak it to each other right? Besides I… I like the way it sounds and it seems like it’s important to you and… I want to learn more about where you come from.” She glanced away bashfully, feeling a little silly for asking. But she genuinely did want to learn, so she looked back at Luz hesitantly, only to find her beaming.

“ _Awe_ , Amity, that’s so sweet! I’d love to teach you! And hey, since no one else knows it, it could be like our own little secret language. We could talk about whatever we wanted and no one would know!” She gushed. Amity giggled at her enthusiasm. Lovable dork!

“Don’t get carried away,” she said, though she had to admit, having a secret little thing they shared sounded really nice. It was getting late but Luz spent a few moments teaching Amity some basic phrases. How to say hello, goodbye, sorry and, her personal favourite, what ‘hermosa’ meant. That had spread a flush across Amity’s cheeks and had earned Luz a kiss.

They agreed to call it a night shortly after that, the following day being a school day. When they reached their rooms, the two girls stood awkwardly between their doors, not quite looking at each other. Luz was rocking back and forth on her heels while Amity rubbed uncomfortably at her arm. It was clear what they both wanted but neither of them made a move. How was it still so weird when they’d been doing this all day? Somehow it felt different when they were standing in the darkened hall outside of the rooms they slept in. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Luz puffed out her cheeks and frowned determinedly before darting in to press a quick kiss to Amity’s lips.

“Night, Ams,” she said, smiling up at her affectionately. Flushed and smiling, Amity scrunched up her face in thought, trying to remember what she’d just learned.

“Uh, b-buenas noches, Luz?” She said, somehow managing to phrase it like a question. The words felt strange on her tongue but it had sounded right. Right? She hoped desperately that she hadn’t totally butchered the pronunciation. Luz gushed happily though, throwing her arms around Amity.

“That was perfect!” She gasped happily. Ok so it was a little embarrassing, but it had made Luz so happy that Amity decided she didn’t care how silly she had sounded. They parted then, giving each other lingering, sappy looks as they slipped into their respective rooms. Safely behind her closed door, Amity leaned back against it to bury her face in her hands, a long, giddy squeal escaping her throat. By the Titan, this had been the longest, best day of her life. 

Grinning like a total, lovestruck fool, she glanced around her room before her eyes landed on the pile of bags they’d left in there earlier and her smile fell. She groaned at the sight, having totally forgotten about them. It was far too late to think about packing out her things now. That was tomorrow’s problem. She dug through them until she found something to sleep in and then promptly ignored them for the night. She’d much rather go to sleep and get to the wonderful, Luz-filled dreams she knew were in her immediate future.

True to her word, Eda was already out of the house when they woke the next day so, after a quick breakfast and a goodbye kiss for King courtesy of Luz, they left for school earlier than usual. It wasn't a long walk per say, but it was definitely going to take longer than a staff flight would have. They may also have been walking a little slower than was strictly necessary, enjoying the early morning air in the quiet of the forest as they strolled hand-in-hand down the path. When they finally arrived, they found Willow and Gus hanging out together near his locker, chatting amicably. 

Ignoring the not-so-subtle looks people were giving them, Luz dragged Amity to their friends before scooping Willow up into a great big hug. Amity surprised them all by clutching Willow just as tightly as Luz was, the two of them crushing the poor girl between them. Their bright laughter filled the hallway as they all tried to talk at once, Willow gasping out congratulations while Amity and Luz thanked her profusely. Glancing over to the other, very bewildered, member of their group, Willow giggled and shrugged helplessly at Gus, who was staring at them all in open-mouthed shock.

“Best. Wing-witch. Ever!” Luz cried gleefully when she and Amity eventually released Willow. Gus tilted his head, frowning at the three of them in confusion. Amity felt a little bad. They _had_ kind of been leaving him out of the loop.

“I’m even more confused than I was yesterday,” he deadpanned. Turning to Willow, he gave her an annoyed look. “Am I allowed to ask what’s going on this time?” Sparing Willow the need to explain, Luz tossed an arm around Amity’s shoulder and dragged her closer. 

“Thanks to Willow, Amity is my girlfriend now!” Luz said brightly. Gus’s mouth fell open again as he looked between them with wide eyes, sputtering incoherently. Amity grinned sheepishly, giving him a little wave from under Luz’s arm.

“You two are _dating_?!” He exclaimed, loud enough for several other students to look up. The whispers started almost immediately and Amity rolled her eyes. It was a good thing that they’d already decided to be open about it because she was pretty sure the news would be all over the school by the end of first-period.

Totally oblivious to the whispering students around them, or perhaps simply not caring, Luz grinned and let out a happy, “yup!” Gus stared at them wide-eyed for a second before he tilted his head again, folding his arms.

“Huh…” he said simply. “Did not see that coming.” Willow snorted beside him and gave him an incredulous look.

“Gus you’re more oblivious than Luz,” she said, laughing at Luz’s very offended expression.

“Hey!” She huffed, clearly trying very hard not to smile. Amity nudged her side with an elbow.

“She’s not wrong,” she chuckled. Luz stumbled back, clutching at her chest as if deeply wounded.

“I can’t believe this! Betrayed by my friend _and_ my girlfriend? How could you!” She gasped dramatically. Gus looked between the giggling girls in exasperation, his face dropping into a flat stare.

“I need more guy friends,” he deadpanned. Luz turned to him with a grin and pulled him under her arm, rubbing her knuckles into the top of his head.

“Et tu, Augustus? Don’t be like that, you goober. You know you love us. Come on, admit it!” Gus laughed, flailing his arms in protest. 

“Alright, alright! Fine!” He scrambled away from her, grinning. “I guess I can deal with the girly stuff, as long as it’s not all you talk about now. It’s gonna be weird seeing you two being all lovey dovey though.” Amity shrugged and slipped her arm around Luz’s shoulders, who squealed happily at the open display of affection.

“You’re gonna have to get used to it,” she said with a smirk and, feeling bold, she pressed a quick kiss to her blushing girlfriend’s cheek. Gus let out an “eep”, rushing to cover his eyes with an arm.

“My innocence!” He yelped, making the girls laugh. The group was forced to part ways until lunch when the bell screamed loudly through the hallways, signalling the start of classes. Walking down the hallways with her hand fit snugly in Luz’s was another delightfully new experience for Amity. 

People were still staring and whispering but it seemed different than the day before. She even spotted a few students smiling at them encouragingly, which made her flush. There didn’t seem to be any ill intent or snide remarks, just students interested in the latest romantic gossip, so she allowed herself to relax.

The rest of the day went surprisingly smoothly. There were no confrontations in the cafeteria, no awkward pep talks or weepy encounters in classrooms. They briefly caught sight of the twins between classes but Ed and Em didn’t approach them, choosing instead to yell very obvious, very embarrassing congratulations from across the hall when they saw her holding hands with Luz. Luz flashing them both a huge grin and a thumbs-up did not help. The twins’ matching wolfish grins promised tons of teasing in her future. All in all, it was a good day. One where she got to be a regular teenager, enjoying new lessons and taking terribly inefficient notes thanks to her adorably distracting girlfriend.

She particularly enjoyed the healing class they had at the end of the day, even if they hadn’t learned a spell for it yet. She found herself drawn in by the subject somehow. The professor promised they would be learning a basic healing spell the following week and Amity was excited to try it. In the meantime they’d been given the theory on the spell so that they could study its casting method and effects for homework.

“Knowing you, I’m pretty sure it’ll come in handy,” Amity said, as she and Luz left the class. Luz leaned in close to flutter her eyes at her playfully.

“Awe, you wanna take care of your boo-boo buddy?” Amity rolled her eyes at her and reached up to flick one of her rounded ears.

“More like patch you up the next time you do something reckless,” she replied snarkily. 

They’d promised Willow and Gus they would spend the afternoon together, so it was fairly late when the young couple finally walked into the Owl House, the sun having already set. It was strangely quiet in the normally chaotic house. There was no arguing, no witty banter, no bubbling cauldrons or squealing demons. Just eerie silence. A faint rustling sound caught their attention and the girls followed it into the kitchen, where they discovered King rooting around the cupboards in search of food.

“King, has Eda come home yet?” Luz asked hesitantly. King popped his head out of the cupboard to glare up at her in clear annoyance.

“No and the King of Demons is hungry! I demand sustenance!” He snapped irritably, scrambling up Luz legs to hang off her shoulder. “Make me dinner before I eat one of you instead!” Luz pulled him down into her arms and held him close.

“That’s weird, she said she’d be back by now…” She said worriedly. She glanced over at Amity before putting on a forced smile. “I guess I can make us some dinner instead. I’m sure she’s just late.” They ate in silence that night. Amity missed the boisterous energy immediately. She hadn’t been a part of this little found family for very long, but Eda had done so much for her. The thought of something awful happening to her was more than she could bear.

When they were done, they tried to do a little homework but it was clear they were both too distracted. Even King seemed upset. He’d curled himself up beside Luz and was watching the door with anxious eyes. Eda could very well just be held up somewhere. She could have decided to stay on her trip another night because she’d found some good ingredients. She could have been about to walk through the door at any second. But something felt off and it gnawed at Amity’s gut. She could tell Luz felt the same.

Eda still hadn’t returned when they eventually decided to go to bed. They’d stayed up late into the night waiting for her but there was still one more school day left in the week so they needed to get some sleep. Their goodnight kiss felt forced and when Luz drew back, the apprehension was obvious in her eyes. Before she could slip into her room, Amity grabbed hold of her to pull her into a tight hug.

“I’m sure she’s ok,” she murmured into Luz’s shoulder. She’d wanted to sound comforting but the slight quiver in her voice made Luz clutch onto her tightly.

“Yeah… Eda is tough. She’s probably fine,” she replied quietly. Neither of them quite believed her.

* * *

Hooooo boi, this took a while. So sorry about the delay guys! I forgot how exhausting the first month of school always is. It's my third year teaching at this school, you'd think I would have learned by now haha. I've also gotten back into drawing again, which is eating up more of my time. I'm think of doing an update for this fic every two weeks from now on. That should give me time to write and draw and still keep up with my work/social life. These chapters are pretty long and it takes a while to plan, write and then edit them. Even just the opening scene in this one went through several rewrites to make sure I handled it right. They're kids after all, gotta be careful with these things. It was a ton of fun to write though. Poor touch starved Amity just wants to kiss her girlfriend now that she's allowed to haha. Luz is cool with it though.

If you're interested in my art, I'm on Instagram as Skiddows and deviantart as Skjolty, though I'm not nearly as active on dA. Might post some fic art as some point, who knows hehe. Anyway thanks for your patience with me and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Lots of character exploration and setup in this one coz it's kind of a transitional chapter. We're headin into plot town guys. Buckle up!

As always, point out any mistakes you see!

EDIT: NOW WITH ART coz my slow ass finished it at last


	7. Before The Plunge

Eda still hadn’t returned when they woke the following morning. As if by some unspoken agreement, Amity had met Luz in the hallway the moment the sun rose so they could search the house, but they’d found no sign of her. Her absence lay heavily over them, suffocating the usually boisterous mood once again. 

Eda brought wild, chaotic energy to the house that made Amity feel safe and secure for some reason. Maybe it was because she sort of reminded Amity of the twins. Or the fact it was so vastly different from the quiet, lonely manor she’d grown up in. Whatever it was, she missed it desperately and that realization startled her a little. It was strange how quickly she was becoming attached to the Owl House and its ragtag occupants.

Amity sat at the dining table with the other two members of her new little family and stared worriedly at the conspicuously empty seat across from her. Picking idly at the breakfast on her plate that Luz had so kindly made for them, she glanced around at King and Luz, wondering how much worse they must be feeling than her. Her relationship with Eda was still fresh and she couldn’t claim to know her nearly as well as they did. Luz’s mood, in particular, worried Amity. She’d learned that Luz had a tendency to cover negative emotions with a smile and the one she wore now was telling.

She was attempting to appear chipper but Amity knew better. She’d barely touched her food. Wasn’t speaking. Wasn’t even fidgeting in her chair with that constant need to move that Amity had grown so fond of. No, instead her leg was bouncing rapidly under the table, the rest of her body held stiff and taught. The nervous tilt to her smile and the dark circles under her eyes were a clear indication that she had slept about as much as Amity had. That she was worried. That she was not ok. Had she spent the night carefully listening for signs of Eda’s return home too? Luz turned to look at Amity, her smile slipping briefly before it was forced back into place and attacked her breakfast with enthusiasm that she obviously didn’t feel. 

King was picking at his food in much the same way Amity had been doing earlier. Despite his constant claims to the contrary, Amity knew he was an absolute softy who wore his heart on his nonexistent sleeve. Afterall, he’d barely known her the night she’d arrived at the Owl House but he had made every effort to comfort her anyway. Looking at him now, the tiny demon seemed downright lost.

Amity hated seeing them like this. Desperate to comfort them, and needing a little of it herself, she reached for Luz’s hand to carefully pluck the fork she was currently staring at from it, setting it down so that she could lace their fingers together.

“Hey, it’s gonna be ok. This isn’t the first time Eda’s been gone for a few days, right?” She was fairly sure she’d heard Luz mention spending the night alone at the Owl House on more than one occasion. That had to mean something. Maybe it was all fine and they really were just being dramatic. Eda would walk through the door and they would all laugh at how silly they’d been. Luz’s smile became a little more genuine when she gave Amity’s hand a light squeeze. The gesture eased some of the squirming feeling in Amity’s gut.

“Well, she did kinda disappear for three days a while ago,” Luz admitted. “I guess it’s not  _ totally  _ out of character for her.” King perked up from his spot beside Luz, his head snapping up so he could nod along as she spoke.

“That’s true,” he agreed. “Eda does whatever she wants. She probably just got distracted by something shiny. That witch has the shortest attention span I’ve ever seen and I’ve met Luz.” That drew a real laugh from said girl and she nudged King playfully.

“Hey! Way to call me out there, buddy! I guess you have a point though. Eda  _ can _ be pretty easily distracted.” Luz shrugged, a small grin spreading across her lips. Some of the tension left her shoulders and Amity felt relief well up inside her. Maybe they  _ were  _ all just overreacting after all.

“Ok, so we all agree we’re worrying over nothing right?” Her question was met with hesitation that didn’t exactly inspire confidence but, eventually, Luz looked up at her and nodded, a determined sort of expression settling on her brow. 

“You’re right, we’re being silly,” she said. “Eda is the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles. She knows how to take care of herself. She’ll be home tonight for sure.” The confidence in her voice seemed to settle them all down a little. At least enough to finish breakfast and get ready for the day. Without Eda to take him to the market, King left to take one of his morning naps while Luz and Amity headed to school. Amity was glad to see he had a little more pep in him as he scampered off to the sofa.

As they made their way through the forest towards Hexide, Amity could clearly see the hesitance in Luz’s normally easy stride. She’d left space between them, likely in the hope that Amity wouldn’t notice, but her usual bouncy steps were closer to plodding and she held herself much more stiffly. Regardless of what she’d claimed earlier, Luz was still obviously worried about Eda. It pained her to know that Luz still felt the need to hide her negative feelings to spare the people around her but she could hardly fault her for it. Sure, she had opened up to Amity when they’d cleared out her room, but years of habit couldn’t be undone in just a few days. 

Her own difficulty in expressing herself gave Amity a unique perspective on the matter. She knew trying to force Luz to open up would only make her lean harder into the smiles and false bravado, so Amity decided she would need to try a less direct approach. Swallowing past the nervous hesitation, she slid in a little closer to Luz as they walked, slipped her arm around Luz’s and clasped their hands together. 

Physical affection was still new to her. It was difficult to initiate, even now when they’d spent so much time cuddling and kissing. Especially when she wasn’t riding the high of their mutual confessions anymore. It had been so easy when she’d been deliriously giddy and not stressed out for once in her life. Now, with a clear mind and access to physical affection whenever she wanted, she found herself both fearing and craving even the smallest touch. If she could, she’d spend all day with her hand nestled in Luz’s, or with her girlfriend’s arm slugged warmly over her shoulder. She didn’t want to come off as clingy and weak though, or risk scaring Luz off with her incessant neediness… She frowned internally at the stupid thought that had sounded suspiciously like her mother. Stars, her parents had really done a number on her. 

It was getting easier to be sure, but there was still that lingering fear of rejection and reproach that she needed to get past. She knew Luz liked her. Knew she felt the same way Amity did. She’d made that  _ very  _ clear and Titan only knew how touchy Luz could get. The girl wouldn’t just understand Amity’s desire for closeness, she’d revel in it. But just like Luz still felt the need to hide behind her smile, Amity still found it hard to believe that it wasn’t a weakness to want a hug or to have her hand held. Everytime Luz accepted her though, it became a little easier to be vulnerable with her and Amity hoped Luz felt that way too.

Luz stiffened beside her for a second, glancing down to where Amity had intertwined their fingers before looking back up at her. Amity kept her eyes set forward and simply walked as if nothing was out of the ordinary. If Luz wanted to pretend that she was fine to make them both feel better, then that’s what they would do. For now. Amity trusted that Luz would open up when she was ready. In the meantime, she would do what she could to reassure Luz without words, no matter how scary it might be.

She saw the small, grateful smile Luz shot her from the corner of her eye and relaxed instantly, leaning into her just a little as they walked. Of course Luz wouldn’t pull away. She never did. Courage bolstered, Amity spent the rest of the day doing much of the same. Any time she caught sight of Luz’s smile faltering or her shoulders stiffening, Amity would talk to her without saying anything at all. 

A squeeze of her hand that said she wasn’t alone. 

A light touch to her elbow to say it was going to be ok. 

A lingering kiss on the cheek or pat on her bouncing knee that reminded her to calm down.

With a valiant effort to ignore how much it made her blush, Amity made sure to shower Luz with all the affection she needed to make her feel better. It helped that it didn’t take long for Luz to realise Amity needed it just as much and to reciprocate with her own gentle touches.

It was drawing attention of course. Their relationship was no secret after Gus’ loud proclamation in the hallway the day before and they certainly hadn’t tried to hide it, but this was a lot more physical displays of affection than anyone had ever seen or expected from Amity of all witches. Luz was well known for her touchy-feely nature but Amity had always been so reserved and private before. 

People stared. They whispered. Even Gus and Willow seemed surprised by her behaviour, though neither called her out on it until Willow pulled Amity aside at lunch to privately question her. Once Amity had gotten through a brief retelling of the last two days, Willow had seemed worried too, though more for Luz than Eda. She’d offered help if they needed it, but that decision would ultimately be Luz’s. Now knowing the full story, Willow and Gus played their parts too by distracting their human friend with playful, friendly banter throughout the day, for which Amity was very grateful.

As classes progressed Amity half expected people to make fun of them. Yet somehow, no one made a comment or joke at their expense all day. In fact, by the end it seemed as if people actively avoided looking at them, their curious stares turning to hurried glances away instead. It was almost as if they were afraid to be caught looking, which struck them both as weird. Neither of them had an explanation for it though, so they chose to ignore it for now and simply do as they pleased. If no one was going to bother them, then Amity was perfectly happy to comfort her girlfriend and be comforted in kind.

When the final scream of the bell tore through the halls of Hexide, the girls made excuses with their friends, said their goodbyes and cut a hasty retreat back home, eager to see if Eda had finally returned. Luz burst through the front door, ignoring Hooty’s whines to be gentle and hurried into the living room, Amity right on her heels. 

King, who was wringing his paws together on the sofa, jolted upright at their sudden entrance, deflating instantly the moment he saw them. He sank down and the heavy look on his face made the pit in Amity’s stomach twist uncomfortably. That face didn’t look like good news.

“She’s  _ still _ not back?” Luz moved over to the sofa to scoop King into her arms and the little demon clutched needily at her neck.

“No.”

The silence that followed was immediately oppressive. Amity swallowed thickly and moved closer so she could rest a hand on Luz’s shoulder, giving King a comforting pat on the back.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” she said, in what she hoped was a soothing tone. “She could still come back later tonight. It’s early. How about we work on some homework. If Eda’s not back by dinner, then we start to worry, ok?” Luz let out a breath and nodded. It was all they could do for now.

They spread their work out over the coffee table in front of the sofa and did their best to focus on getting some studying done but it proved futile. King’s nervous pacing near the door was a huge distraction and Luz had practically glued herself to Amity’s side, which was distracting for an entirely different reason. Not even a group call on the Crystal Ball with Willow and Gus had been enough to get their minds off of Eda’s apparent disappearance. Luz’s leg bounced throughout their discussions on plant and illusion magic with their friends, the movement jiggling against Amity’s own leg since they were sitting so close.

When dinner time eventually rolled around and Eda still hadn’t come home, the three of them gathered in the kitchen. No one spoke for a moment, instead sharing uncomfortable looks from across the table. When the silence drew out for a little too long, Luz grunted and sat up straight, her shoulders squaring seriously. It was time to talk.

“Ok, we’re officially worrying now, right?” She met Amity’s eyes and Amity couldn’t help but grimace. King’s anxious little whine only made her feel worse.

“Eda may sometimes disappear for days but she always tells us when she’s gonna do that. I don’t like this…” he murmured, scratching nervously at the table, his sharp little claws leaving dents in the scuffed wood. The sound was grating at Amity’s already fragile nerves, so she reached over and plucked him from his seat, ignoring his little yelp of protest as she set him in her lap. Luz gave them both a fond look and settled her arm around Amity’s shoulders. They all needed a little comfort, it seemed.

“King’s right, Eda is pretty wild but she keeps her word. To us anyway…” She said with a wry smile before a frown settled across her brow again. “She’s been gone for two full days now, something must have happened.” 

There was no denying it at this point. Amity knew Eda wouldn’t simply abandon them for days on end without warning. Everything she’d learned about the witch during her stay and through stories from Luz painted Eda as a caring, if slightly criminal, mother figure. Wild, sure. Reckless at times. Even bordering on occasionally childish and irresponsible. But she was not neglectful. Something was wrong. With a steadying breath, Amity eyed her girlfriend seriously.

“Ok, what’s the plan?”

Luz blinked at her before frowning and looking down at the table in thought. The arm around Amity’s shoulders tightened slightly. Almost defensively. Oh, she wouldn’t...

“There’s no school tomorrow so I’m gonna go to The Knee and find her.” Oh, she  _ would  _ apparently. Did the girl seriously think Amity would miss her very specific phrasing? There had been no ‘we’ in that statement. Amity leveled Luz with a very annoyed glare.

“Not without me you’re not,” she said, backing away so that she could look fully into Luz’s eyes. The arm that had been hugging her so tightly, slackened and fell to Luz’s side. They stared hard at one another, both waiting for the other to cave. Amity’s glare deepened just a touch. Luz may be stubborn but she’d never gone toe-to-toe with Blight will. This was a battle she absolutely would not win.

“I’m coming too!” King piped up, hopping from Amity’s lap onto the table and it was enough to break their staring contest. Luz glanced down at him before nodding and looking back to Amity.

“We have no idea what happened. It’s too risky. King and I do dangerous stuff like this with Eda all the time, it’ll be safer for you to  _ stay here _ .” Her determined frown and pleading eyes did very little to change Amity’s mind. If anything, it frustrated her more.

“If you think I’m letting you run off on your own to get yourself killed then you’re not as smart as I thought you were!” Luz winced and her face twisted into a pained grimace. Amity hated that she’d been the cause of that expression but there was no way she could give in. Luz needed to understand how irrational she was being.

“Amity, please! Eda could have been captured by some weird monster or bounty hunters or… or the Emperor’s Coven!” Her breath quickened and she reached out to take Amity’s hands into her own, squeezing them nervously. “Heck, as far as we know, Eda only planned to be gone for a day. That means she probably didn’t take enough elixirs with her to last this long. She could be in her owl beast form right now and you’ve never seen her like that!” 

Amity’s eyes widened. She hadn’t thought about that at all. It was entirely likely that Eda’s curse had gotten the better of her by now, regardless of whether she’d been captured or not. She was supposed to take an elixir  _ every  _ day and if she had only brought enough for the one she was meant to be gone then… Luz could see the realisation dawn in Amity’s eyes and grasped desperately for that little victory.

“This is way too dangerous! You’ve been through enough already, I don’t want you to get hurt!” Amity blinked and frowned again. Eda potentially being in her cursed form meant it was even more imperative that they worked together. How could Luz not see that?

“You think I want  _ you  _ to get hurt?” She asked incredulously, gripping Luz’s hands tightly in her own. “Like you said, we have no idea what happened. If she  _ was  _ captured, how do you plan on saving her alone? Do you honestly believe you’d be safer without me? We’re supposed to be a team, Luz!” Luz flinched and looked away. The vulnerable look in her eyes made Amity’s chest clench painfully. 

“I just… Eda’s already missing and probably in trouble. I don’t wanna risk something happening to you too.” Amity sighed heavily and tugged Luz into her arms. Luz gripped tightly at her shirt, burying her head into Amity’s shoulder as she slid her fingers into Luz’s hair. She was trembling. Terrified. Amity leaned her own head down against Luz’s and pulled her closer. 

“Well I’m not risking something happening to  _ you  _ either. I’m coming with you, whether you like it or not,” she whispered into her ear, all the frustration flooding out of her. She knew Luz was only trying to protect her, as misguided as it was. How could she be mad at her when Amity would gladly tie Luz to a chair somewhere in the house if she thought it would stop her from running head first into danger. But they had no choice in the matter. Eda needed them. “Besides, I want to help Eda just as much as you do. She’s done a lot for me.”

Luz let out a shuddery breath against her neck before sitting up out of her arms. Their eyes met and she visibly deflated.

“Ok... fine,” Luz relented at last. A deep frown settled on her features and she pointed dramatically at Amity. “But we can’t tell Willow and Gus! I don’t wanna put them in danger too. And we  _ have  _ to be careful!” The snort of laughter that escaped Amity at that was loud and very sudden, surprising them both. The tension between them vanished and Luz grinned at her.

“Shouldn’t I be the one saying that? Since when are you ever careful?” Amity smirked at her girlfriend playfully, who shrugged helplessly. Luz could hardly argue the point. It was already out of character for her not to want help on a mission. She lived for wild adventures with her friends. Her being the cautious one was practically unheard of. An annoyed huff drew their attention to King, who was glaring at them from the table.

“If you two are done being saps, can we get a move on? Eda’s not gonna save herself here!” He folded his short arms imperiously at them and Luz’s grin widened as she nodded determinedly.

“You’re right, King. We should pack some supplies and leave first thing in the morning. It’s too late to go out there now.” She glanced up at the ceiling, tapping her chin with a finger, a thoughtful pout on her lips. “Eda said she was going to The Knee so we’ll need to leave early. It's a long hike without Owlbert to fly us there.” The prospect of having to hike all the way to and then up The Knee was daunting to say the least. Amity had made the trip several times in her young life and knew from experience that it wasn't an easy walk.

Knowing they’d need to be well rested and energetic for such a strenuous hike, Luz and Amity set about the task of preparing themselves. Luz bustled around the house with King, the two of them gathering what they could for the long trip. Warm clothes, a tent in case they’d need to stay overnight, various tools and knickknacks Luz thought might be useful and, most importantly, as many elixirs as they could find. 

While the two of them packed, Amity set about making them a hearty dinner and preparing what food she could for the trip. She was far from an expert chef, but she and the twins had spent enough nights alone at the manor to know how to take care of themselves and she’d made sure to watch Luz on the occasions that she’d cooked for them over the last few days. She relished the chance to use her meager culinary skills to be helpful in some way. She could hardly help them pack when she had no idea where Eda kept everything; this was the least she could do.

When they eventually sat to eat and come up with a more solid plan than ‘find Eda’, Luz gushed over the meal, much to Amity’s embarrassed delight. She knew Luz was over exaggerating to make her feel better and to lighten the uneasy mood, but it hardly mattered. Amity basked in the praise anyway, her heart fluttering and full. If it helped them briefly forget the dire situation, then it was all for the better.

They all retired to bed shortly after dinner, knowing they would have to rise before the sun did if they wanted to make good time getting to The Knee. When they reached their bedroom doors, Luz stopped Amity with a gentle tug of her hand. She was staring nervously at her feet, teeth working at her lower lip as she scuffed the wood floor with the toe of her sneaker. When she finally looked up, there was remorse in her eyes that caught Amity off-guard.

“I’m sorry.” Amity tilted her head curiously, thoroughly confused.

“For what?”

“For trying to make you stay behind. You were right; we’re a team.” She swallowed thickly and reached out to wrap a stunned Amity tightly into her arms. “I hate arguing with you. It sucks. I know you’re super powerful and strong and you can handle yourself, I just…” Before she could build up any more steam, Amity cut her off with a gentle kiss. It was all she could think to do. Luz blinked at her owlishly when Amity pulled back, her train of thought thoroughly derailed. 

She found it incredibly sweet that Luz felt the need to apologize after such a small argument. Neither of them liked confrontation but it had been a necessary one. Amity understood her fully, after all. She couldn’t bear the thought of something bad happening to Luz, but that was why they had to work together. Protect each other. She was just glad that she’d managed to convince Luz before the girl ran off without her. She was also very glad their first fight had been a small one and that they had gotten past it without any hard feelings.

“Luz, it’s ok. I know you meant well, but you can’t protect me from everything. It's not exactly easy for me to think about you getting hurt either. I care about you too, dummy. We’ll just have to watch out for each other. Deal?” She reached up to thread her fingers gently through Luz’s hair, smiling when she leaned into the touch. 

“Deal,” Luz said, moving in to press a kiss of her own to Amity’s lips. Her grip on Luz’s hair tightened a little as she leaned in closer. Something about the way Luz was holding her filled Amity with courage. They would be ok. They had each other’s backs. They could do this. Together.

The following morning was a mad rush of activity. Hooty woke Luz before sunrise and her frantic, terrified yelling for him to get out of her room was more than enough to startle both Amity and King awake. Before Amity’s half-awake mind could register what was happening, they were out the door and trekking to The Knee, heavy backpacks and supplies in tow. Luz had stowed King in the hood of her cat-eared sweater, the little demon having promptly fallen asleep the moment they’d left the house.

The journey took all morning and part of the early afternoon. They arrived at the foot of the mountain an hour or two after noon, at which point King’s incessant grouching for food forced them to stop and rest. Both girls were honestly glad for the break; it had been a long walk. It was also a perfect time to don their winter wear as the chill of the snowy mountain was starting to send shivers down their spines as they approached its base. 

“Ok buddy, do you know where Eda usually goes for supplies?” Luz asked as they sat to eat a quick lunch. She and Amity were huddled together on a fallen log just off the marked path, cuddled close for warmth as much as comfort. King sat at their feet, tilting his boney head up to look at them. He scratched at his chin with one little claw, his eyes scrunching up in thought.

“I’m not sure. It’s been a while since I went on one of these trips and I don’t know what ingredients she wanted.” Amity frowned. The Knee was huge and heavily wooded. They needed  _ some _ where to start or they could be there for days looking for Eda. 

“It’s not going to be easy to find her if we’re just wandering around aimlessly up there. Maybe we should split up and look around?” She asked, glancing at Luz, who turned to her sharply, eyes wide. 

“No way! I’ve seen enough horror movies to know splitting up in the woods is never a good idea!” She said emphatically. “Things  _ always  _ go wrong when you split the party. We came here together and we’re sticking together!” Her reaction had been so strong and immediate that Amity found herself unable to argue.

“Ok, we’ll stick together,” she agreed. “But we need something to go on at least.” Relieved, Luz leaned against Amity as they all thought. There had to be somewhere they could start looking. Luz’s eyes lit up suddenly and she sat up to look between her companions.

“What about those ruins where you and the twins were practicing the fire spell? Maybe we can start there and use that as a base or something?”

“You mean the Witch Arena? That’s a really good idea, Luz! It’s pretty easy to find and there’s plenty of foliage around it. Eda might have gone there looking for ingredients,” Amity said, grinning at Luz’s triumphant expression. She opened her mouth to speak again but King snapped his claws at them, drawing their attention. 

“Hey! Less talky, more walky. We’re burning daylight here!” He huffed. Amity was inclined to agree. The climb wouldn’t take too much longer but she’d prefer not to do it in the dark. After a quick cleanup they continued along the path that angled up along the side of the mountain. They followed the winding safety rails as they climbed higher, careful to avoid slipping on the icy ground while keeping an eye out for any and all signs of the Slitherbeast. It had been a while since their last visit but neither of them wanted to find out if the hulking white monster remembered them.

Amity’s breath puffed visibly in front of her as they stopped at the top of the trail. Without the constant crunch of her winter boots in the snow to cover it, her ragged breathing sounded deafening in the still woods. They’d finally reached the top and it was the first time they’d stopped since their lunch break some two hours ago. She was exhausted. 

Luz, who stood beside her, didn’t look like she was faring much better. She was breathing just as heavily as Amity was, bent over slightly and clutching one hand tightly to the shivering lump at her chest that was King. He had crawled into Luz’s furry coat a little while ago and was snuggled in there to hide from the cold, despite having his own little scarf, jacket and mittens, along with a pair of earmuffs that Amity questioned the use for. King had no ears to speak of. Were they keeping his horns warm somehow? Shaking the random thought from her head, she took a deep, refreshing gulp of frigid air that burned into her lungs and squeezed the hand held in her own.

“The arena’s not far from here. We should keep moving before it starts getting dark,” she huffed out, slowly catching her breath. Luz groaned tiredly but nodded, following Amity as she gently tugged her forward. They plodded further down the path until the first of the broken stone pillars came into view. 

The sight was enough to give them both a little burst of energy and they hurried forward, rushing into the Witch’s Arena in hopes of finding any signs of Eda. Luz skidded to a sudden, stumbling halt at a stone archway that led into the central area, leaving Amity to scramble not to bump directly into her. She had come dangerously close to toppling both herself and Luz into the snow. King poked his head out of her jacket at the jerky stop and glared up at Luz.

“Watch it, will ya? If you fall on me I  _ will  _ be forced to smite you and it’s too cold for smiting!” Luz gave him a distracted pat on the head, her eyes trained ahead of her.

“Sorry, King. But look!” She pointed her free hand into the arena, the other still wrapped securely in Amity’s. Following the gesture, Amity’s eyes fell on what appeared to be an empty campsite. Someone had set up a horned, patchwork tent against one of the crumbling walls of the ancient structure, a firepit set just in front of it. They approached cautiously, eyes darting about for any signs of life. Snow had gathered on top of the tent and around its base, as well as over the dead coals of the fire. The camp looked completely abandoned.

“That’s Eda’s tent. We used it last time we came here,” Luz muttered, eyeing the tent in confusion. “I guess she must have decided to stay for at least one night.” Amity met Luz’s eye and an unspoken conversation passed between them. Without a word the girls split up, Luz taking King to check the tent while Amity moved closer to the firepit, drawing a spell circle in the air to reignite the coals with her pink flames. The magical fire sprang to life instantly, easily melting the snow that had gathered there and crackling merrily, flooding the immediate area with warmth.

The fact that Eda had clearly decided to stay at least one night wasn’t surprising. They’d guessed it was a possibility earlier. She could have any number of reasons for wanting to spend the night on the mountain, but she wouldn’t have stayed any longer than that. Not without sending word somehow and especially not if she didn’t have the elixirs she needed. The firepit being stone cold and lack of footprints in the snow when they’d arrived didn’t bode well either. 

Amity stood warming her hands over the fire, eyes scanning the area for trouble when she heard Luz emerge from the tent behind her, the flaps covering the entrance fluttering as she brushed them aside. She and King stepped up beside Amity and Luz held her hands out near the pink flames too, a deep frown settling on her brow.

“It looks like all of her stuff is still in there,” she muttered. “It’s like she went out looking for ingredients or something and just… didn’t come back.” That was partially good news at least. If all of her supplies remained untouched, she probably hadn’t been captured by bounty hunters or the Emperor's Coven, both of whom would have raided the camp for sure. It still left the possibility of a monster attack, though there didn’t appear to be any signs of one. King trotted up to Amity and held up a little round bottle that she took to inspect. The label identified it as one of Eda’s elixirs, entirely empty and cork reinserted.

“We found this inside too. There weren’t any more though,” he said, eyeing the bottle with trepidation. Just the one bottle, which meant she hadn’t intended to stay the second night. Amity shuddered at the implication, glancing up at Luz and biting her lip worriedly. Luz huffed out a breath and turned to look into the woods.

“She’s  _ gotta  _ be somewhere nearby,” she said. The scared but hopeful lilt in her voice made Amity immediately reach for Luz’s hand again, which she squeezed gratefully. “We only have a few hours of daylight left so if we’re gonna look for her, we should go now.” And so they looked.

True to her word, Luz refused to let them split up, which Amity was honestly thankful for. The heavily wooded mountain could be a little scary at the best of times, but the fact that they were looking for someone who had disappeared under mysterious circumstances made it feel downright creepy. Much like Luz, Amity was a fiction lover. She’d read plenty of books and heard many stories about adventurers lost in the woods. Things tended to go south fast. She was glad for Luz’s hand never leaving hers.

King was darting around them as they walked, ignoring Luz’s loud calls for Eda in favour of sniffing at every rock and tree he could find. He scurried around and under bushes, hunting for any sign of Eda that his heightened demon senses might find.

The sun had just started to dip in the sky when the girls heard King call out to them from a little ways ahead. They hurried to catch up to him, finding him resting his paws against a tree with several large, jagged claw marks gouged out of it’s trunk.

“Well… that’s not ominous at all,” Luz murmured, her voice wavering nervously. She glanced anxiously at Amity who shifted a little closer.

“Don’t freak out. This could have been made by anything.” She hesitated and frowned up at the deep scratches with concern. It was the first unusual thing they’d seen on their search. Slitherbeasts didn’t mark their territory this way and there were no other creatures on The Knee large enough to leave a marking like this. “Maybe we should look around here a little more. If Eda was here when this happened there'd be more evidence, right?” King puffed up his furry chest and gave a sharp salute.

“I’m on it!” He darted off into the underbrush, rooting around while the girls looked for signs of Eda having been nearby. Amity quietly hoped they didn’t find anything. She didn’t like the idea of what it might mean if Eda  _ had  _ been there when those marks had been made. She and Luz froze at King’s sudden little “weh” from somewhere in a bush nearby. They turned to see him struggling out of the branches, dragging something behind him. With a sharp tug, he tumbled out into the open with a sack full of ingredients clutched in his claws. Attached to the sack was a very familiar staff.

“That’s Eda’s!” Luz cried, darting to snatch the staff into her hands. She turned it over to peer at the tip and let out a little gasp of dismay. “Owlbert’s not here! Eda would never leave Owlbert behind!” She looked up at Amity desperately, fear etched across her face before turning panicked eyes to the trees. She called out frantically for the little owl palisman, her voice echoing through the woods as she dashed back and forth. Startled by her sudden panic, Amity ran to catch Luz, reaching out to wrap her arms around the trembling girl. She held her tightly to her chest, pressing her forehead to Luz’s to force her to look at Amity.

“Luz! You need to calm down. We’re gonna find them, ok? It’s going to be ok, but if you keep yelling like that we might attract whatever did that to the tree.” She clamped down on her own fear as hard as she could, hoping Luz couldn’t feel the way her heart was pounding. They needed to be more careful. Luz swallowed and clenched her eyes shut, visibly trying to calm herself down. They both froze suddenly when a fluttering noise and quivering little hoot drifted down from somewhere above them. Eyes snapping open, Luz turned sharply to look up into the tangled foliage of a tall tree behind them. There, hiding within the leaves and snow gathered on the branches, was a shivering Owlbert, drawn out by Luz’s calls. Luz let out a keening sound from somewhere in her throat, her grip on Amity tightening with relief.

“Oh, _ gracias a Dios _ … Owlbert, c’mere buddy!” The tiny brown palisman peered down at them wearily before his eyes lit up with recognition. With a happy little hoot, he fluttered down and landed on Luz’s outstretched arm, hopping along it to nuzzle up against her cheek. He was shivering against her as Luz reached up to gently tuck him closer to her neck, giving his head a tender little scratch.

Amity watched them interact with fascination. She’d never seen anyone cuddling another witch’s palisman like that, but this was Luz afterall. The girl was known for doing the unheard of. Owlbert looked up at Amity and watched her carefully, his eyes narrowing. She gave him a weak little smile from where she was still wrapped up in Luz’s other arm and the Owl tilted his head, hooting curiously. He hadn’t awoken from Eda’s staff since Amity had moved in so she could hardly blame him for being unfamiliar with her. These weren’t exactly the ideal circumstances for a first meeting either.

“Don’t worry, Owlbert,” Luz said when she spotted his wary look. “Amity is a friend.” Luz looked down at her and grinned at the annoyed look Amity was giving her. “Ok, so maybe more than a  _ friend _ ,” she added, yelping when Amity pinched her side.

“Har, har, very funny, Noceda,” she huffed sarcastically, happy at least that the relief of finding Owlbert had calmed Luz’s panic enough for her to be cracking jokes. Really stupid, not at all funny jokes. She turned her eyes back to Owlbert, who was still curled up at Luz’s neck. “If he was hanging around here, then Eda can’t be far. Palismen don’t usually stray from their witches.”

Luz gasped and scooped Owlbert into her hand, bringing him down so she could look at him. “Is that right, buddy? Is Eda somewhere nearby?” He fluttered about on her hand, nodding his head rapidly. Luz laughed with relief and pulled him a little closer in her excitement. 

“That’s great! Do you know where she is? Why aren’t you with her? Is she ok?” Her rapid fire questions startled the little owl for a moment before he began hooting in earnest, gesturing wildly with his wings. Unfortunately, given that none of them were bonded to him, they had no idea what he was trying so desperately to say. “ _ Lo siento _ , little guy, I don’t understand. Can you slow down for a second? Maybe do some charades or something?”

Ruffling his feather in obvious frustration, Owlbert hopped off Luz’s hand and flew off into the gloom of the slowly darkening forest. Luz yelped after him but he fluttered back almost immediately, dropping a bundle of something dark into her hand before landing on her shoulder again. Amity eyed the pile of what appeared to be large grey feathers curiously. She glanced up to see Luz staring at the feathers with wide, fear-filled eyes.

“Luz…” King murmured from his spot at their legs. “Those look like…”

“I know, King.” She hesitated and looked up from the feathers to Amity.

“Maybe we should head back to the campsite. It’ll be dark soon. We can figure out what to do next from there,” Amity said, stepping back so she could lightly tug Luz forward. She followed without hesitation. The sun had almost fully set and stars had begun to surface in the dark veil of the night sky. They cut a hurried path directly back to the Witch’s Arena, the deepening shadows of the forest seemingly pressing in on them as they all but ran to the relative safety of the still burning campfire. When they arrived, Amity turned curious eyes to Luz, who was idly fingering the feathers in her hand, eyeing them with trepidation. It didn’t take a genius to guess where they had come from. She reached out to lay her hand over them, drawing Luz’s attention.

“Luz, these are Eda’s feathers, aren’t they?” Luz flinched and turned away, staring worriedly into the fire.

“I… I think so, yeah.” Fear pulsed through her veins and Amity stepped closer to Luz, King clutching at the fabric of her winter coat nervously. Luz wrapped an arm around Amity and held her tightly. “We could still be wrong,” she said hesitantly. “Maybe Owlbert was trying to tell us Eda was attacked by some big bird or a gryphon or…”

She was cut off by a high, unnatural screech that cut loudly through the silence of the forest, echoing eerily against the sides of the mountain. A terrified tremor ran up Amity’s spine, the hair on the back of her neck standing on end.

“What in seven hells was that?! I’ve never heard anything on The Knee make that noise before…” Luz and King shared a horrified look as Owlbert hooted mournfully from Luz’s shoulder.

“That… that was Eda.”

  
  


* * *

Hahaha, remember when I said two weeks? Whoops. October has been... its been a month. Let's put it that way. It didn't help that this chapter fought me tooth and nail. I'm still not entirely happy with the pacing of it and there are a ton of things I'd like to fix but I just cannot stare at it any more. You guys have waited long enough, geez. For those of you that are still with me and have been patient enough to wait for this, I'm so sorry it took this long! Next chapter is gonna be a ton of fun though coz I finally get to explore some of the stuff that made me wanna write this fic in the first place, woo! Hopefully that means it won't be as hard to write...


	8. Healing Light

A second, much louder screech sent them all scrambling for the meager safety of the tent. The soft hide of the structure wouldn’t exactly slow Eda down if she discovered them, but being in an enclosed space helped them all feel a little more secure. Amity stood to the side, arms hugged around her middle as she watched Luz pace around the tent, face grim.

“This is bad…” King said from where he was sitting, arms folded and head bowed, frowning at the ground. “Eda’s probably been like that for a while now, which means she’s gone full-owl for sure.” Full-owl? Amity wasn’t sure she liked the sound of that at all.

“What does that mean exactly?” She asked and Luz paused mid-step to look back at her before turning suspicious eyes on King.

“Well, last time she transformed it was only partially and I got through to her, so she turned herself back,” he said, tapping at his boney chin with a claw in thought. “I don’t think we can count on that working this time.” Luz’s eyes narrowed into a concerned frowned.

“King, what are you talking about? When did that happen?” Luz asked, her tone stern, but Amity caught the hitch in her breath. Apparently Eda had been transforming more than Luz knew about and it was clear that scared her. It worried Amity too, but she was more concerned with how stressed out Luz was right then, so she moved closer, slipping her hand into Luz’s in the hopes of grounding somewhat. It eased her mind a little when she felt Luz’s fingers tighten around her own, but she looked no less worried.

“It _may_ have been when you borrowed Owlbert that one time,” he said, poking his claws together guiltily, his eyes averted. Luz and Owlbert shared a brief look that screamed there was a story there but now wasn’t the time to pry into that. Luz seemed to share the sentiment because she pointed her free hand at King and levelled him with a stern look.

“Ok, we’re definitely talking about that later but we have more important things to deal with right now. What did you do to snap her out of it?” King scratched nervously at his scruffy neck.

“My rage squeal. It made her laugh and she sort of just...‘woke up’.” Amity opened her mouth to ask what exactly a ‘rage squeal’ was but she was cut off by another hair raising screech. It sounded further off, which was worrying in its own way. Eda may not be stalking them at least but she was on the move. The thought of what might happen if she found her way off the mountain and into Bonesborough was terrifying. They needed to do something and soon.

“King’s method could be a backup plan, but we probably can’t guarantee that she’ll be able to snap herself out of it, right?” She looked to Luz and got a nod in response. “Right, so we need something a little more solid. How did you turn her back the first time this happened?”

“Eda’s demon form is light-sensitive so I used a really big light spell to stun her and then we force fed her an elixir.” Simple. Effective. Kind of ingenious. It was very Luz. Amity smiled at her and nodded.

“That sounds like a more reliable plan. Let’s do that.” Luz, however, looked less than enthused, her mouth twisted up skeptically.

“The problem is Owl-Eda is hard to pin down. She’s really fast and she’s got so much room to move around out here. How are we gonna keep her still long enough to stun her? I don’t think tossing a blanket over her head is gonna be enough this time.” 

Luz made a good point. They needed a way to keep her in one spot long enough to set off a big enough light glyph, but how? She had her abominations but Amity doubted they could keep up with Eda, especially somewhere so cold where their semi-liquid state would be compromised. Abominations didn’t do well in below freezing temperatures. They became sluggish as the sludge that formed their bodies cooled and hardened. It was the whole reason she’d tried to use her training wand instead of summoning one when they’d fought the slitherbeast before. 

They all fell silent, trying desperately to think of some way to contain a large demon with little to no resources. After a few moments, Amity felt Luz perk up and turned to look at her. Luz was watching her with a hopeful glimmer in her eyes.

“Amity, I think I might have an idea. Do you remember what you did on the hill last time we were here?” Luz asked eagerly. Amity’s eyes widened with recognition almost instantly. That day had been ingrained in her memory for more than one reason. It was easy to recall the exact moment Luz was referring to.

“That… that could work. We’d need to time it just right, but it _could_ work.” A lot could go wrong but if they could pull it off… Luz’s bright grin was enough to bolster Amity’s confidence. They’d faced worse than this. They had dealt with fear demons, slitherbeasts, monstrous fictional characters brought to life, a fiery mindscape version of Willow and, worst of all, Boscha. They could handle Eda. They could do this. 

She felt a whole lot less confident when, not long after, she found herself floating over the treetops on Owlbert. They’d ironed out the plan pretty quickly, deciding it was best to keep it simple. Overly complicated plans and Luz Noceda did not go well together. So after a brief argument over who would act as ‘bait’, which Amity had won, she left Luz in a clearing to prepare and took off on Owlbert in search of Eda. Staring down at the dark, foreboding forest below her, however, she had to wonder if ‘won’ was the right word. She didn’t feel like much of a winner. In fact she felt a lot more like a tasty hors d'oeuvre being served on a floating stick.

Trying hard to push that disturbing thought down, her mind wandered to Luz. Hopefully she was feeling less exposed where she was busy prepping her part of the plan. When they had separated, Amity had flown in the direction they’d last heard Eda’s screeching coming from so, in theory, Luz should be safe where she was. Amity on the other hand… Well she’d been the one to argue that it should be her up here so she could hardly complain. She wished Luz was with her though. They had both been a lot less uncomfortable with the idea of ‘splitting the party’ once they’d realised there were no nefarious witches or monsters involved, but that didn’t mean Amity was enjoying being alone up here.

“Pspspsps! _Eda_! Here girl! Come get the shiny!” Ok so not totally alone. 

She rolled her eyes and glared down at King, who was sitting behind her on Owlbert, waving Luz’s glowing gem pen around in the air like it was some sort of beacon.

“King, what are you doing? She’s not a cat,” she snapped irritably. King just shrugged, ignoring her annoyance entirely.

“Hey, have _you_ ever seen Eda’s owl form? Because _I_ have, so maybe you should leave the Eda-tracking to the experts and just make sure we don’t fall out of the sky.” _Click click._ He went right back to calling out for Eda like she was a lost house pet, clicking the pen off and on repeatedly to flash the light and Amity had to stifle an annoyed huff. King was adorable but he could be very frustrating. _Click click._ She winced. They needed to take this seriously.

Grumbling, Amity turned her eyes back down to the trees, scanning them carefully for any sign of movement. It was a clear night, the moon high and mostly full, so it wasn’t terribly hard to see, but the forest was dense and Eda’s feathers were apparently quite dark, if Luz’s drawing of her was accurate. She wasn’t going to be easy to spot. _Click click._ She grit her teeth.

The constant clicking of the pen behind her was grating at her nerves and she had to fight not to snap at King. _Click click._ She didn’t want to be a jerk when she knew most of her irritation was misplaced. _Click click._ She was cold and scared and the constant tension of not knowing where exactly Eda was, was eating at her self-control. _Click click._ Wincing at the annoying sound, she focused on the tree-line, searching for any signs of movement while trying to put King out of her mind. _Click click._ Why was it so loud? _Click click._ What sort of pen could drown out the sounds of a forest? _Click click._ Wait… _Click click._

The pen wasn’t loud, the forest was just quiet. Unnaturally, unnervingly quiet. She froze, her throat constricted, knuckles whitening as she gripped the staff tighter. The forest beneath them was totally silent. When had that happened? How long had it been since she’d heard the chirping of night critters in the trees? She felt sweat beading at her neck and swallowed hard. _Click click._

“King…” He ignored her, muttering in annoyance as he kept clicking the pen. The little glowing gem suddenly seemed far too bright. _Click click._

“King... I need you to put that thing away now,” she said slowly, her voice shaking, eyes locked on the trees. Had that branch just moved or had she imagined it? _Click click._

“What? But we need this to attract Eda,” he huffed, still clicking at the pen and glaring at her like he thought she was stupid. She felt pretty stupid in that moment. This was a terrible idea. Why had she volunteered for this? _Click click._

“Will you shut up and _listen_!?” She hissed at him and he frowned, tilting his head.

“To _what_ ? I don’t hear anything!” _Click click._

“ _Exactly_.” He stiffened with understanding and his claws faltered on the pen. It slipped from his grasp and fell down into the trees. Amity felt a brief flash of guilt as she watched the pen disappear, the glow fading away as it was lost amongst the leaves. Luz really liked that pen.

They fell silent, both staring down at the trees anxiously, eyes darting in search of any sign of movement. Fear thrummed in Amity’s throat but she forced it back down. This was what they wanted after all. They needed Eda to find them. She would not run. She would not panic. Luz was counting on her to fulfill her part of the plan and there was no way she would let her down. Amity was no coward.

They floated in absolute silence for a long moment, Amity’s grip on Owlbert almost painfully tight. A cold wind rustled her hair, sending a shiver down her spine and she shuddered, eyes shut for just a moment as she braced herself against it. _Click… click._

Her eyes snapped open and she stared hard at the little pink light hovering in the trees. The pen? _Click... click._ The light blinked out before reappearing, bobbing slightly in place. How? She bit her lip, fear crawling in her gut as she watched the little pink light move about. It lifted, drawing close to something sitting on the branches. Straining to make it out, Amity leaned over for a closer look and her eyes widened. _Click... click._ Pink light reflected off of black, cold eyes. _Click... click._ Long, sharp teeth were revealed within a wide, almost fascinated smile. She couldn’t help the gasp that slipped past her lips and Amity cursed herself for a fool. _Click crunch._

Those empty, black eyes snapped up to them, a clawed hand crushing the pen effortlessly between long gnarled fingers. The little pink light died. With a vicious snarl the huge beast burst out of the trees, launching itself at them with frightening speed. A terrified scream ripped its way out of Amity’s throat and she yanked hard on Owlbert, the staff shooting upwards just in time as the beast, who she now realised was Eda, swung at them, claws just missing the bottom of Amity’s boot. Eda fell back into the trees with a crash, snarling and hissing as she broke through the branches. That had been far too close. Trembling all over, Amity shook herself hard and grit her teeth. Time to put the plan to action.

She hovered in place for just long enough to take a deep, steadying breath before she angled Owlbert down and dove straight into the trees. This was so stupid. She was an idiot for doing this. She absolutely refused to die tonight.

Wind whistled in her ears, drowning out the sound of King’s startled squeak as they dove. A growl caught her ear and she instinctively pulled sharply to the side just as they broke through the tree-tops, narrowly missing the claws that had swung at them from a tree branch. She weaved Owlbert through and around the branches, the forest blurring around her sickeningly as they twisted and turned to escape Eda, who was jumping from branch to branch in an attempt to get at them. The scrabbling sound of her claws raking across wood and the heavy cracks of broken branches echoed loudly in the quiet forest, spurring her on even faster. Adrenaline coursed through her, heart racing as they dodged slashing claws in a mad race to the ground below. By some miracle, they managed to reach the snowy forest floor, where it would be easier to fly, without any of them being eviscerated. There was no time to be relieved though.

Eda thumped heavily into the dirt just behind them, kicking up a spray of snow that pelted the back of Amity’s head and she was forced to urge Owlbert forward before she could get her bearings, weaving through the trees with Eda thundering after them. Which way was Luz? She stared hard at the trees that whizzed by her, desperately looking for something familiar after their disorienting descent. They had intended to draw Eda’s attention. They’d _wanted_ her to follow them, but her sudden appearance had totally thrown Amity off and now she had no idea which way to go.

The crunching of Eda’s claws pounding closer through the snow filled her ears and she felt panic building in her chest. Where was she supposed to go? Which way? The trees all looked the same! _Where was Luz_? Her brief hesitation gave Eda just enough time to catch up and she leapt at them with a hair-raising shriek. Amity yelped, veering upwards out of reach. Eda passed just below them and landed in a tumbling mess of feathers, broken branches and dirt. Powdery snow was thrown into the air as she slid along the ground, digging in her claws for purchase before darting at them again. Amity picked a direction at random and flew as fast as she could push Owlbert to go, the little palisman pumping his wings hard to stay ahead of his cursed master. 

She was totally lost now. The trees blurred together. It all looked the _same_! In coming up with the plan, they had failed to account for getting lost in the damn woods in the middle of a chase. She was an absolute idiot! Eda’s heaving breaths were getting closer. She was going to be on them any second now and it would be all Amity’s fault. Tears stung her eyes and she wasn’t sure it was entirely from the biting wind whipping at her face. Just as she was starting to lose all hope of ever finding her way, she felt King frantically tug at the back of her coat.

“Look!” Amity looked up to where he was pointing and saw a break in the trees off to the side. Her heart soared. Somehow, against all odds, they’d found it. Aiming for the opening, she flew hard. It was just a little further. They were going to make it!

They broke through the tree line and Amity felt her heart stop. Luz was standing just ahead of her, next to the huge light glyph that she had traced out in the snow, watching the forest on the other side of the clearing for signs of Amity and Eda. She was on the wrong side! No… _Amity_ was on the wrong side! In her mad dash through the forest, she had somehow managed to circle around the stupid clearing and now it was too late to correct her course. Luz was standing directly in her path and Amity had led Eda right to her .

“Luz! Watch out!”

Luz looked back over her shoulder, eyes wide with shock as they briefly met Amity’s. Eda burst through the trees in a huge leap and Luz had just enough time to throw herself to the ground with a startled cry before Eda leapt over her, swinging once more at the staff. Her aim was true this time and she landed a solid hit, pitching Owlbert forward sharply and throwing Amity over the front and into the air. The world spun around her as she crashed to the ground but somehow, using the momentum of her fall, she managed to get her hands underneath herself and rolled up onto her knees. Dazed and dizzy, shaking frigid snow and dirt from her eyes, she found herself staring directly at Eda.

The moon shone down into the clearing, giving Amity her first clear look at Eda. Teeth bared and snarling, eyes black as pitch, hands clawed and back hunched. She was terrifying. She was monstrous. An awful sadness crept over Amity at the sight of her. Knowing about the curse had not prepared her for the reality of it. She couldn’t imagine having to deal with something like this for her whole life. It was too cruel. She felt a great wash of sympathy for Eda and a deep anger for whoever had done this to her. But only for a second. 

The brief moment was shattered when she saw Eda’s claws flex in the snow, saw her shoulders bunch and Amity knew she was about to attack. Thanking the Titan and whatever other deities that might be listening that Eda had slid into the middle of the glyph, exactly where they wanted her, Amity raised her hand and drew a circle in the air. It glowed brightly just as Eda started to run. 

“Amity, wait!” Luz’s shout came too late. Amity was already thrusting her hand upwards, drawing a huge cage made of woven light out of the ground, encircling the entire glyph in the snow. A strangled scream cut from the other side of the clearing as the cage rose high into the sky, just in time for Eda to slam face-first into it. The bars sizzled against her feathery head and she flinched back, hissing and glaring murderously at Amity. She swiped viciously at the bars but the burning light forced her back again and Amity let out a breath of relief. The cage was holding. Luz’s crazy plan had worked. 

A loud, pained cry drew her attention and she looked past the cage to see Luz collapsed in the snow, smoke rising from her hands.

“Luz!” Scrambling to her feet, Amity darted around the cage, King scurrying along beside her from where he had landed with Owlbert clutched in his paws. Luz had buried her hands in the snow by the time Amity reached her so she couldn’t see what had happened, but the pain on her face was clear. Tears were streaming from her eyes, her face twisted into an agonised grimace. Dropping to her knees beside her, Amity reached tentatively towards Luz.

“Let me see,” she said, gently pulling Luz’s hands out of the snow and turning them over. A horrified gasp slipped past her lips.

Luz’s gloves had been scorched away, revealing angry red burns criss-crossed over the entirety of her hands, the skin glossy and already blistering. It looked excruciating. Guilt consumed her and Amity felt suddenly sick to her stomach when Luz bit back a sob. Her spell had done this. It was the only explanation. This was _her_ fault. She had _hurt Luz_.

“Oh stars, Luz, I...” Tears welled in her eyes, her fingers tightening around Luz’s shaking wrists. How could she possibly convey how sorry she was. Luz sucked a breath in between her teeth as she pulled her hands away to carefully press them back into the snow.

“I-it’s not your fault,” she whimpered weakly. “E-Eda broke the glyph when she landed. I… I was trying to fix it when you made the cage but I wasn’t... fast enough.” The glyph was broken?

Amity turned to look into the cage where Eda was prowling around the perimeter, swiping at the bars in search of a weak spot. Sure enough, there was a wide swath cut through the glyph where Eda must have landed and slid across it. They’d planned on using Owlbert to activate it once Eda was trapped, but that was impossible now. Just along the inside edge of the cage, Amity could make out a section where Luz had attempted to redraw the outer circle. She must have had her hands pressed right into the snow when Amity had raised the cage. She had literally burned the cage right through Luz’s hands. 

Her breath hitched and she looked back down at Luz’s hands in abject horror, shame and self loathing rising in her throat like bile. Luz was shivering beside her, her breaths coming in sharp, broken bursts, tears still spilling down her cheeks, which only served to make Amity feel worse. Luz was in so much pain and she didn’t know what to do to help. Amity reached out for her hesitantly but froze, hand outstretched, when Luz looked up sharply with a gasp.

“Amity! Amity look!” The urgency in her voice startled her and Amity whipped around to look behind her. To her horror, Eda was standing in the centre of the cage, spreading a pair of large wings that she hadn’t noticed before. She flapped them slowly, as if testing her range of motion. They just managed to fit within the cage, the very tips only slightly grazing the bars. A hungry smile split her face and she eyed the open sky with glee. Amity’s eyes widened, jaw falling slack in shock.

“She can _fly_ ?!” Holy Titan! It struck Amity suddenly that Eda had basically been toying with her in the woods. She’d been able to fly this whole time, but she’d _chosen_ to run. It was like she’d been enjoying the chase. Like she had been playing with her food. The disturbing thought was interrupted by King’s loud cry.

“She’s gonna get out!” He pointed his claws up to the open end of the cage and Amity knew he was right. Leaping to her feet without a second thought, she drew a circle in the air. Connecting her magic with the ends of the cage, she held out her hands and grabbed at the air as if she were holding the bars between her fingers. With a sharp tug, she drew her hands in and the cage followed, forcing it down into a dome shape just as Eda threw herself into the air with a heavy flap of her wings. She slammed into the very center of the dome, tumbling back down with a furious screech and Amity felt the impact rattle through her. The cage wasn’t meant to be manipulated like this. She was frankly surprised she’d been able to bend it at all. Groaning with the effort of holding it closed, she turned to look at Luz over her shoulder.

“I… I can’t let go of this spell or the cage will open again. What are we going to do?!” She hated asking anything of Luz right then, injured as she was, but Amity’s hands were full with keeping Eda contained. Luz pulled her own hands free from the snow and flexed her fingers, yelping in pain at the slight movement.

“I can’t draw a new glyph like this…” She said desperately. No, of course she couldn’t. Amity had ruined her hands. Another powerful shock surged through her when Eda slammed herself into the top of the cage again and Amity felt it give way just a little. Her arms shook visibly from the strain, sweat slipping down the back of her neck in a frigid line. Illusion magic was hardly one of her strengths; in fact it had been a shock when the twins had managed to teach her this spell in the first place. She was certain she wouldn’t be able to keep Eda in for very much longer. The demon was already picking herself up off the ground, growling darkly and shaking the snow from her feathers in preparation for another jump. They were running out of time.

Amity’s eyes darted around for a solution. Something. _Anything_ that would help. There had to be a way to fix this. Another impact within the cage sent her to her knees, a wave of dizziness darkening her vision for a second. She distantly heard Luz calling her name but her mind was reeling with the effort of maintaining her spell. Her breath became ragged and quick, ghosting in the cold air and stinging at her throat. Panic pulled at her senses as her eyes roamed the area shakily. 

How had it all gone so wrong so fast? Their plan had meant to be simple. Easy. Lure Eda into a trap and stun her with a giant light glyph. Now Luz was badly injured, the glyph was useless and it was taking everything she had to simply keep Eda contained. Worst of all, she was about to escape. Eda was going to get out and do Titan only knew what to them and there was nothing Amity could do to stop her. Her strength was failing. One more hit and the cage would open. She could feel it. If they were going to do something, it needed to be _now_!

She saw Luz holding her hands to her chest, calling out to Eda. Begging her to stop. King was clutching at Luz’s coat in fear, pressing his little body into her side. Something at his feet caught her eye and Amity squinted to make it out in the dim moonlight. It was one of Luz’s plant glyphs, half pressed into the snow where King must have accidentally stepped on it. There were more scattered about, the little leather pouch Luz kept them in having presumably fallen open when she had ducked out of the way earlier. Fire, plant, ice and... light! Could they use the paper glyphs? No, Luz had said their size mattered and these were all far too small. Eda might be fascinated by the little glowing ball for a second or two but they’d need a hundred of them all at once to produce the kind of light they needed to stun her.

But something about the plant glyph tugged at her memory and her mind slipped to Grom night. Luz had used one of her little plant glyphs then too and it had managed to create a huge tree. One that towered over the others around it imposingly. A tree so large it had become a visible landmark in the forest near Bonesborough. But the glyph hadn’t been the only magic involved then. Her eyes widened as a spark of inspiration sizzled in her mind. Maybe… 

Luz sucked in a sudden breath and when Amity met her eye, she knew they’d had the same idea. Luz lunged for the glyphs, grunting in pain as she scooped one up and slapped it onto the cage in one fluid movement. For one breathless moment nothing happened. Then Amity let out a cry as Eda threw herself into the dome once more. The impact sent her reeling and she lost her hold on the cage. It sprang open instantly, leaving Eda looking up at freedom with a sinister grin on her face. She crouched down, wings spread wide. 

The light glyph sank into the cage.

A humming whine grew in the air as the bars started to glow. Eda hissed, folding her wings over her eyes and curling in on herself as the cage shone brighter and brighter. The humming grew into a loud buzzing, the bars of the cage vibrating now as the light became physically painful to look at. It was still getting brighter. Realising what was about to happen, Amity turned and dove at Luz. She pulled her tightly into her chest, tucking Luz’s head into her shoulder before pressing her own face into the soft fabric of Luz’s winter hat. 

Eda’s pained screech tore through the buzzing as the cage erupted into a huge pillar of light that flashed high into the night sky, instantly turning night to day. It burned so bright that Amity’s vision filled with white even with her eyes clenched tightly shut and pressed against Luz. The buzzing cut off sharply as the light suddenly vanished, leaving a deafening silence in its wake.

The first thing Amity noticed was the sounds of the forest coming alive around them again. An owl hooted somewhere in the woods, critters skittering about and insects chirping once more in the trees. The girls pulled apart from one another, dazedly blinking the bright after image out of their eyes. It took a moment for them to adjust to the sudden darkness but they eventually turned to see the aftermath of their spell. What they found was Eda, unconscious on her back in a circle of charred, exposed dirt, the snow around her melted away. 

Too stunned to move, they could only watch as King pulled his head free from the snow where he’d buried it to hide from the light. He scurried over to the bag they had stashed near the tree line earlier in the evening, dragging it over to Eda and promptly stuffing the elixir he pulled out of it straight into her mouth. The golden potion drained into her and she swallowed it reflexively in her sleep.

Nothing happened.

“Uuuuh… Luz? This usually works. Why isn’t it working?” King asked nervously. Luz bit her lip anxiously.

“It’s been a few days, maybe she needs more. Try another one!” It took four. Four elixirs before Eda finally turned back, her body shrinking in on itself and feathers vanishing to reveal the Owl Lady within. Amity had never been happier to see anyone in her life. Now they just needed to get her back to camp so that Amity could fix what she’d done to Luz. Somehow.

The trip passed in a blur. With Eda draped over Owlbert, King holding her in place and Luz sitting behind her at Amity’s insistence, there was no room on the staff for anyone else, so Amity was forced to walk beside Owlbert. Regardless of how tired and achy she was, she was frankly quite happy not to be on the staff after her harrowing flight anyway. 

When they finally made it back, Amity settled a still unconscious Eda into the tent, leaving King to watch over her and she and Luz moved to sit, exhausted, by the fire so Amity could inspect Luz’s hands. She held them up and frowned. The burns looked even worse in the light. Raw and red, Amity could only imagine how much it hurt. Luz was trying to put on a brave face but there was no hiding the pain in her eyes.

“Oh, Luz… I’m so, so sorry.” She scrubbed angrily at her eyes, blinking back the tears in frustration. She shouldn’t be crying. Luz was the one in pain, not her.

“Amity, it’s ok. It wasn’t your fault. If you’d waited even a second longer, Eda would have…” She winced, looking away with a shuddery breath. “I… I’d rather have some burned hands than think about what could have happened to you if you didn’t put up that cage in time…” 

Amity _really_ didn’t want to think about that either. Or about what might have happened if their last ditch, hair-brained idea hadn’t worked. The entire plan had very nearly ended in disaster and that terrified her. Swallowing past the thick lump that had formed in her throat, she turned to focus on Luz. 

“Let’s get you fixed up.” Amity was fairly sure that they didn’t have anything in their little emergency healing kit that would help. Searching through it, she pulled out a little jar of burn ointment and looked at it doubtfully. It was barely enough to cover one of her hands and, even then, it wouldn’t do much. Luz seemed equally uncertain and looked up at Amity with a weak little smile.

“I don’t suppose you did the healing track homework already?” Amity stiffened, her hands tightening around the jar.

“I… I did but… you know I’ve never had much luck getting new spells to work without a training wand.” She bit her lip and looked down at Luz’s hands hesitantly. “I’ve only read the theory, Luz. I don’t know if I could actually perform the spell.” Luz reached out to her but seemed to think better of it, grimacing at her injured hands.

“D’you think you could try? You’re so much better at magic than you think. Please, it… it really hurts.” She stared at Amity pleadingly, her voice so small and vulnerable that it broke Amity’s heart. No matter what Luz said to the contrary, Amity knew it was her fault she’d been hurt. She’d been the one to get lost in the woods and lead Eda to the wrong side of the clearing. She’d been the one to burn Luz’s hands with a hasty spell. And, Titan help her, she would be the one to fix this.

Squaring her shoulders, she took a deep, steadying breath and motioned for Luz to hold out her hands. The least she could do was try the damn spell.

“Try to hold still ok? It’s just a basic healing spell, I don’t know how much it’ll do to help, but hopefully it’ll at least make it hurt less.” Luz nodded at her, trying her best to keep her shaking hands still. Amity exhaled slowly and shut her eyes, trying hard to remember what she’d read. She drew a circle in the air, feeling the pull of her magic as she called it to her fingers and focusing with all her might, she willed the magic towards Luz.

“ _Woah_ .” Luz’s breathless exclamation drew her attention and she opened her eyes. To her utter surprise, Luz’s hand was glowing faintly in Amity’s signature pink magic, just as the book had said it should. It was working. With wide, wondering eyes, she reached out to hover her hand just above Luz’s, feeling the magic pulse in time with her own beating heart. It was warm and somehow comforting. She let her eyes drift shut again and concentrated on the feeling welling up within her. It felt natural. Easy. It felt _right_. She’d never felt so attuned with a spell or with her own magic before.

The book had said that this would be the end of the spell. A gentle glow that would help speed the healing process and provide some pain relief, but Amity could feel potential here. She could do _more_. She was connected to Luz through the spell, feeding magic into her hands that was intended to heal. Through that connection, she could feel a ghostly echo of Luz’s pain pulsing in her own hand. Almost instinctually, she latched onto it and pulled, drawing the pain out like poison. She barely registered the little gasp that escaped Luz, too intent on the spell to fully comprehend anything else. When the last of the echoing twinge in her hands was pulled free, she let the magic fade, scattering it in the cold air. Hesitating for a moment, she opened her eyes and gasped. The burns were gone without a trace. No blisters or raw skin. Not even a scar. Nothing. Somehow, by some miracle, Luz’s hand was healed.

“Oh my gosh, Amity!” She looked up to see Luz staring at her with open awe. “You did it!”

“I… I did?” She looked back down to where Luz was experimentally curling her thoroughly uninjured fingers and felt a slow smile spread across her cheeks. She _had_ done it! Stars, she’d actually _healed_ her!

“It’s like they were never there!” Luz exclaimed, giddy with excitement. Grinning brightly, she held up her other, still burned hand. “Try again!” 

The second spell came just as easily and this time Amity made sure to keep her eyes open, eager to see what exactly she had done. She watched with fascination as her magic swirled up into a little orb as she pulled at it. She hadn’t even realised she’d made that the first time. The burns receded with the light, vanishing without a trace as it passed over her skin. She could feel that same ghostly echo of Luz’s pain being drawn into the orb and she felt the moment the pain vanished when she let it dissipate. 

A sudden wave of weariness washed over her and Amity had to steady herself for a second. As easy as the spell had been to perform, doing it twice in a row had taken a lot out of her already drained reserves. Happy as she was that she’d healed Luz, this was probably a good lesson in caution when experimenting with spells. Shaking the fogginess from her head, she looked up to see Luz flexing her freshly healed hand and grinning at her broadly.

“Amity, I think we may have just found your speciality.” Amity blinked at her slowly.

“My… what?” 

“Y’know, like how Willow is so awesome at plant magic? Or how the twins and Gus are so great with illusions? I think your speciality might be healing!” She stared at Luz’s beaming face in shock. Could it be? She’d never thought of herself as having a speciality before. Magic had never come easily to her but this… This had been easy. It had been like breathing. 

“You might be right…” She murmured, eyes widening with the realisation. Luz let out a happy laugh.

“Of course I’m right! You said that was a really basic healing spell right? But look!” She happily wiggled her fingers in front of Amity’s face. “I’m totally ok! It didn’t even hurt when you were doing it!”

She had a point. The spell was designed to relieve pain and speed up the body’s own natural healing process. Had she performed it the way it was meant to be done, Luz would still be in a lot of pain and would likely have ended up with a lot of scarring. But she’d managed to manipulate the fairly basic spell into something far more effective simply by following her own gut instincts. She let out a long breath as a sudden clarity awoke within her. 

No wonder she’d always had so much trouble with magic. She’d spent her entire life focused on the flashier, more aggressive magic tracks because it was what her parents had pushed her towards. Blights were known for their power, therefore she had to present herself as being powerful. But Amity was meant for something else. She was a healer. The thought brought a smile to her face. It felt right. She liked the idea of being able to help people. She’d always been gentle by nature but she’d had to push that aside to meet the harsh expectations of her family name, her only outlet being the brief time she got to spend reading to witchlings at the library for ‘extra credit’.

She realised suddenly that, if it hadn’t been for Luz, she might never have known. Her parents would never have allowed her to join a service track like healing. Blights were leaders. Powerful and bold. Blights did not serve the people, they were served. If Luz hadn’t come barreling into her life, if she hadn’t escaped her parents and gotten to try new magic, she might have been stuck in a track she wasn’t meant for her whole life. Just like Willow. 

True, she had made it work for herself. She’d learned to create powerful abominations, but it had been a painful struggle of never ending effort. Hours of practice and study and training to the detriment of all else in her life. Healing, however… healing was effortless. Amity was snapped out of her own thoughts when Luz launched herself at her, drawing her into her chest.

“You’re amazing, Ammy! Those burns really sucked but you fixed me right up. Thank you so much!” She grinned, squeezing her close and Amity felt a bright flush spread across her cheeks. She smiled happily, burying her head in Luz’s shoulder as she wrapped her own arms around her tightly.

“I’m just glad you’re ok,” she said and she meant it. The fact that Luz was no longer hurt was far more important to her than any personal discoveries in that moment, especially since she’d been the one to hurt her in the first place. Luz pulled back and planted a deep kiss on her lips that left Amity thoroughly dazed.

“I’m more than ok!” She said when she pulled back, grinning as Amity blinked at her in surprise. “We saved Eda and you just found your magical calling! This is the best night ever!” Amity laughed happily when Luz threw her arm over her shoulder and leaned in close, content to sit with her by the fire for a while.

“I still can’t believe what that glyph did to your cage. It went up like whoosh!” Luz said after a while, throwing her free arm wildly into the air. “It was just like at Grom. Your spell and my glyph mashed together into one big, super spell.” Amity grinned at that. Loveable dork.

“Yeah,” she agreed, the seeds of an idea growing in her mind. “That’s the second time we’ve combined two different spells to make something incredible.” Before she could fully formulate the thought though, a smug little grin spread across Luz’s face and she wiggled her eyebrows at Amity.

“I guess you could say that whenever we team up... _magic_ happens!” The groan that escaped Amity at that was loud and long. She levelled Luz with an unimpressed look. It barely counted as a pun but she looked so proud of herself and Amity had to try very hard not to laugh at the dopey smile on her face.

“Luz… that was so bad.” Luz scoffed at her and gave her shoulder a playful shove.

“Oh come on, you loved it. Admit it!” Giving the haughtiest huff she could manage, Amity turned her chin up and folded her arms.

“I refuse to admit to any such thing.” They stared at each other for a few seconds, both refusing to break, before Luz gave a tiny snort and they both dissolved into giggles. It wasn’t even that funny but neither of them cared. It just felt good to act like kids after such a stressful few days and a very eventful night. Luz’s laughter broke on a huge yawn that immediately had Amity yawning too. It was late and cold and, despite her good mood, she was utterly exhausted. Luz rubbed at her arms, shivering slightly when a frigid breeze ruffled her hair.

“Maybe we should go inside and get some sleep. I’m kinda beat,” she said and Amity was happy to agree. They made quick work of putting out the fire and slipping into the tent after that. With bed rolls placed neatly next to each other, they both settled in for the night. Luz fell asleep almost the moment she shut her eyes but Amity wasn’t quite so lucky. In the dark of the tent, she found her mind wandering back to all the ways the night could have gone horribly wrong. Images of Eda, in her demon form, doing unspeakably horrible things to them flashed in her mind's eye and she shuddered.

Tossing and turning beneath her blanket, she tried desperately to push the thoughts aside. They were fine. Everything had worked out and she knew Eda would never willingly hurt either of them. But it was no use. No matter how much she shifted about or rationalised her fears, she just couldn’t sleep.

Looking over at Luz’s peacefully sleeping face, a longing sigh drifted from her lips. Amity envied her apparent ability to sleep through just about anything. A selfish thought crept into her mind and latched hold. She hated to wake Luz but she also knew she would never get to sleep without some kind of distraction. Just some reassurance that everything was really ok so she could finally relax. So, feeling like a horrible girlfriend for disturbing her, she reached out and took Luz’s hand.

“Luz?” She called quietly, squeezing her hand lightly. Luz shifted with a little moan and cracked open an eye.

“Mm… ‘mity?” She murmured sleepily. Amity bit her lip, feeling even worse for waking her now because Luz was clearly exhausted and who could blame her?

“I’m sorry to wake you, I just…” Just what? Didn’t want to be alone? That was such a stupid reason to bother her. She wasn’t alone. Luz was right there. And yet...

“S’okay. What’s wrong? Can’t sleep?” She looked away from Luz’s concerned, tired eyes, not even sure what exactly she wanted her to do about it. She was being selfish. She should have just let Luz sleep and dealt with her own stupid issues.

“C’mere.” Startled, she looked back to see Luz reaching for her with both arms, drowsily trying to tug her closer. A deep flush warmed her cheeks. Luz wanted them to sleep together? Not just next to each other but… _together_ ? Oh stars, she’d maybe been hoping for a hand to hold or some comforting words but this? She was not ready for this! Was she? They had cuddled, sure, but this was different! This was in the dark. In a sort-of bed. For the whole night! The whole night… cuddled up close to her girlfriend. Her very _recently acquired_ girlfriend. Her heart fluttered wildly at the thought and she couldn’t deny that she really, really wanted to, but it also absolutely terrified her.

A grunt sounded from somewhere on the other side of the tent and she was reminded that they weren’t exactly alone. She felt suddenly a lot calmer. She was being silly. Eda and King were right there, sleeping a little ways behind Luz. It wasn’t like they were going to _do_ anything. Luz would never do anything that made her uncomfortable and Amity certainly wasn’t going to initiate anything. They were just going to sleep. That was all. This was no different to cuddling on the sofa together. It was _fine_.

Forcefully shoving past her raging nerves, she shifted closer and allowed Luz to pull her in until she was nestled snugly in her arms. She felt Luz reach over to tug her abandoned blanket over the both of them before settling in again, gathering Amity in close so that she was pressed up against Luz’s chest.

“Better?” She asked, sleepily nuzzling her head into Amity’s hair. It really was. Cocooned safely in the warmth of the extra blanket and Luz’s arms, Amity felt all of the anxiety from the evening leave her and she let out a relieved sigh.

“So much.” It was exactly what she’d needed. A very tactile reminder that she was ok. That _Luz_ was ok. Nothing bad was going to happen because they were both safe. She smiled and allowed herself to snuggle closer, tucking her head into Luz’s neck and slipping her arms around her waist. Lying with her like this wasn’t so scary. It was actually _really_ nice. Luz apparently agreed because she let out a happy little hum, curling her arms around Amity a little more.

“M’glad. G’night, Ammy,” she murmured, already drifting off to sleep again and Amity felt a rush of gratitude for Luz. Sweet, selfless, kind-hearted Luz who hadn’t been mad that she’d woken her in the middle of the night because she needed comfort. Luz, who was always happy to do whatever she could to make sure Amity felt safe and cared for. To remind her that it was ok to ask for help sometimes because she would be there for her without complaint, no questions asked. A deep warmth blossomed in Amity’s chest and filled her with affection for the girl in her arms as she followed her into sleep.

She woke hours later to find herself still snuggled into Luz’s arms and Amity was perfectly content to stay right there. Surrounded by the warmth of blankets, lanky arms and Luz’s loud and yet somehow weirdly comforting snores, she’d be hard pressed to find a reason to get up. 

Except maybe the lingering memory that they weren’t alone and the fact that Eda had a tendency toward teasing. With any luck, she’d still be out cold and Amity would have more time to enjoy this. Lifting her head as carefully as she could to look over Luz’s shoulder without waking her, Amity peaked across the tent and her heart slammed into her throat. It was empty. Eda was gone. She sat up sharply to get a clearer look of the space, but there was no sign of either Eda or King. Heart pounding, Amity looked down to where Luz had merely rolled over, still fast asleep. Grabbing her shoulder, Amity gave her a rough shake.

“Luz… _Luz_!” She woke with a snort, eyes blinking blearily and hair an absolute mess.

“Wh-whassamatter? Wha’s going on?” She murmured, voice thick with sleep, one hand reaching up to rub at her heavy eyes.

“Eda’s gone!” That seemed to snap her awake instantly. She turned sharply to look around the tent and yelped at finding it empty.

“Oh, cramity, where did she go?!” They scrambled out of their shared bed, hurrying to pull on boots and coats before rushing out of the tent in search of the missing Owl Lady. Only to skid to a grinding halt in the snow when they found her sitting beside the merrily burning fire, roasting what appeared to be whole rats skewered on sticks. King was plopped on a rock on the other side of the fire, happily chomping on the head of his own roasted rat. Amity grimaced and had to look away as he bit into it with apparent glee, feeling suddenly queasy. Eda glanced over her shoulder at the commotion of them rushing outside and eyed them casually.

“Oh good, you’re awake. Breakfast will be done soon so get over here before King and I eat it all.” The girls glanced at each other for a moment before cautiously moving to sit next to the fire. Eda didn’t seem to notice the air of discomfort around them as she plucked one of the sticks from where it was poked into the dirt and offered it to Luz, who visibly flinched when the eye on its back blinked at her.

“Uh… I’ll pass,” she said, not even trying to hide the disgusted look on her face. Eda shrugged and held the rat out to Amity instead. She suppressed a shudder and swallowed down the nausea climbing up her throat.

“Thanks but I’m uh… not _that_ hungry.” Eda rolled her eyes and sat back with the skewered rat.

“More for me I guess. Kids these days. Don’t appreciate good old fashioned home cooking.” 

They awkwardly watched her dig into her questionable meal for a moment, looking for all the world as if absolutely nothing unusual was going on, but the drawn out, tense silence was too much for Luz and she groaned loudly.

“ _Eda_.” She glanced over at them and huffed, lowering her ‘breakfast’ with an annoyed sigh.

“I suppose you wanna talk?” She asked, raising an eyebrow at them and Luz gaped at her in shock.

“Well… _yeah_!” She drawled, staring at Eda incredulously. Eda leaned forward, resting an elbow on her knee as she took another bite out of her rat.

“Ok, well how about you fill me in on what exactly happened last night? Coz I’m drawing a blank. Last thing I remember is gathering some roots and next thing I know I’m waking up in the tent, with a massive headache and you too canoodling next to me.” Amity let out an embarrassingly high pitched “eep”, burying her burning face in her hands while Luz spluttered beside her. This was becoming a very annoying pattern. Curse Eda and her love of teasing them. Stars, she was worse than the twins sometimes!

“We were not _canoodling_! We were just sleeping!” Luz yelped, giving Eda a scandalised glare. Eda merely smirked in response.

“Never try to con a con artist, Luz.”

“ _Eda_!” She snorted out a laugh and waved her rat at them dismissively.

“Yeah, yeah, fine. I’ll stop. Now spill. What are you two doing here?” Amity caught Luz’s eye and grimaced. She hadn’t thought about the fact that Eda might not remember any of what had happened while she was trapped in her beast form. Knowing that made it all somehow far more tragic in Amity’s mind. Eda had no idea what she had come so close to doing to them and now they were going to have to explain it to her. All while she gnawed on a very unsettling breakfast rat.

Relaying the story of the last few days to her took two more roasted rats and an entire bottle of apple blood to finish and, when it was over, Eda was worryingly quiet. She stared long and hard into the flickering flames, her eyes hollow and dark.

“I see…” she murmured after a long while. “Thank you, for coming to find me. I’m… really sorry you kids had to go through all that.” When she looked up at them it was with such profound guilt and sorrow that Amity felt all the air leave her in a rush. No one spoke for a moment until Luz leaned forward to give her a plaintive look.

“Eda, _what happened_? Did you forget to take your elixir or something?” Eda actually looked a little insulted.

“Kid, I’ve been dealing with this curse for most of my life and I have _never_ missed an elixir. At least not without outside influence.” She gave Luz and King a look that made them both glance away awkwardly before she breathed out a heavy sigh. “I took my elixir like I always do but… well I haven’t exactly been honest with ya. The curse is getting worse. Guess one elixir just isn’t gonna cut it anymore.”

That stunned them into silence once more and Luz reached for Amity’s hand, squeezing it tightly.

“Eda…” She murmured sadly but Eda gave her a weak smile and waved a casual hand at her.

“Ah, don’t worry about me, kiddo. I’ll be fine. I always am. I’ll just have to be a bit more careful with the elixirs from now on.” She sat up a little and clapped her hands together. “Now, you two go pack up your things. I don’t know about you but I’d like to get off this Titan forsaken mountain before we all freeze to death.”

Luz seemed like she had more she wanted to say, but Amity stood, tugging her to her feet. She could tell Eda needed a minute alone so she pulled a reluctant Luz towards the tent to do as they were told. They paused at the entrance though and looked back at Eda with concern. She was staring sadly into the fire, her shoulders slumped and idly patting King’s head as he leaned against her, patting her knee with one paw. 

Luz caught Amity’s eye and she knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that they were thinking the same thing.

They were going to find a way to cure Eda.

* * *

Ah the sweet anxiety of hitting that post button. We meet again. I've never written action or creepy thriller sequences before so I hope that wasn't absolutely painful to read. You ever write a word so many times it loses meaning? Yeah, I don't think I like the word click anymore. Balancing the pacing and mood was a trip I tell you and I'm not entirely certain I pulled it off, but there ya go. Eda is ok! Mostly. And the girls made it out in one piece... mostly. Ok so Luz got a little hurt but hey! They fixed it! It's _fine_!

I like the idea of Amity being meant for healing a lot. It just seems to fit with everything we've seen from her in the show. She's gentle and nurturing when she's allowed to express herself. It makes sense to me I guess. I think I also just really wanted her to have a specialty that didn't associate her with her parents in anyway but still gave her something unique from the twins and her friends. So yeah, healer Amity. Am I rambling at this point? I might be. Sue me, I've been working on this for days and my brain is fried. I gotta stop writing 9k word chapters... it's going to kill me.


	9. Dreams of Home

After such an exhausting weekend, it was a relief walking into Hexide where things were more predictable which, considering the day-to-day chaos of the school, was saying a lot. Potential magical shenanigans they might encounter here aside, Amity had always seen the school as a safe space. In spite of the endless hours of study and toil, the emotional exhaustion of keeping up her old facade and having to watch her back for the twins’ next prank, Hexide had been her escape from home. From her parents. Now, as she and Luz strolled into the courtyard in front of the school to the sight of her friends waving eagerly at them, she realised it was becoming so much more. 

Willow and Gus called loud greetings from their spot beside the stairs with warm, welcoming smiles. It was a far cry from the apathetic ‘hello’s she was used to from Boscha and (to a lesser degree) her posse, who wouldn’t dare be seen as anything less than above it all. Amity much preferred this. Coming to school when she had real friends and a day of classes she’d chosen for herself felt more like a treat than an escape. Like she wasn’t just here to seek the approval she never got elsewhere. Now she could look forward to school for more positive reasons.

When they got closer, Luz rushed in to give their friends a big enthusiastic hug. “You guys will not believe what we did this weekend!” She gushed excitedly when she hopped back to Amity’s side, launching into a thorough retelling of their misadventures on the Knee. 

She made sure to leave out details of Eda’s curse, spinning the story as if they’d rescued her from an unrelated owl demon instead. They’d agreed that, for the sake of Eda’s privacy and not unnecessarily worrying their friends, they wouldn’t tell anyone about her curse unless it was absolutely necessary. It may not be entirely secret but the less people who knew about it, the better. Willow, however, was unimpressed with Luz’s grand tale of heroism. She sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration.

“Luz, why didn’t you call us? We could have helped,” she huffed, giving them both a look that made Amity feel like she was somehow being sent to the principal’s office. Luz gulped audibly next to her and chuckled awkwardly.

“I… didn’t want to put you guys in danger?” She tried, which was mostly the truth anyway, but when Willow’s disappointed look deepened into a frown Luz ducked behind Amity with a squeak. 

“Hey!” Amity yelped, looking nervously between Luz and Willow’s glaring face. “Are you seriously using me as a shield right now?” Luz was lucky she was so damn cute all tucked into her back like that or Amity might be inclined to actually be mad at her. Gus sniggered at them from next to Willow.

“Ooooh you’ve done it now,” he smirked at Luz, who peeked up from behind Amity, gripping her shoulders nervously as she looked at her glowering friend.

“I’m sorry, Willow! I just didn’t want to make you guys come when we didn’t know what was happening. We had no idea how dangerous it was gonna be and I didn’t want you guys to get hurt. I tried to make Amity stay behind too but she wouldn’t!” Luz said, stepping cautiously out from behind her girlfriend and wringing her hands anxiously. Amity crossed her arms and glared at her in annoyance. Cute or not, they’d already had this argument and she’d be more than happy to give Luz a refresher on who had won.

“Do I have to remind you of  _ why _ ?” She asked and Luz’s guilty expression softened into a smile as she tugged Amity’s hands free to give them a squeeze.

“No, Ammy, you were right. We’re a team now. I was being dumb trying to make you stay anyway. Pretty sure I wouldn’t have made it back without you,” she admitted and Amity smiled back at her. Good to know she’d at least learned that lesson. Willow stepped forward and set her hand on Luz’s shoulder, giving them both a very serious look.

“Girls, I know you two are together now, but you aren’t the only ones that are part of this team,” she said, motioning to herself and Gus. “I could have done plenty to slow that demon down with my plant magic and Gus could have done all sorts of helpful stuff with his illusions.” She turned to look at Amity and sighed. “I’m happy for you, Amity, really I am. It’s great you found something you’re so good at, but neither of you needed to get hurt for you to do it. We’re your friends too, remember? We care about you guys and we  _ want  _ to help you.” Amity grimaced and looked away, guilt gnawing painfully at her gut. She already felt awful about what she’d accidentally done to Luz and having Willow bring it up certainly wasn’t helping. She also knew Willow was right. They’d been stupid to do it alone, but there wouldn’t have been any way of letting them help without also telling them about Eda’s curse. Gus, who was standing beside Willow with folded arms, nodded vigorously in agreement.

“Besides, we want to go on crazy adventures too. You’re hogging all the good stuff!” He exclaimed and Willow snorted.

“Not exactly where I was going with this, Gus. We don’t need to go  _ looking  _ for trouble, but I think we all know it finds you anyway. So next time you two get into more schemes, plots or ruses…  _ or  _ shenanigans, let us help you, ok? Both of you.” Luz smiled weakly at her, scuffing the dirt with her shoe guiltily.

“You’re right,” she replied. “Next time something comes up, I promise we’ll come to you guys.”

“Me too,” Amity added, a little taken aback at Willow’s plea and genuinely touched by her sincerity. She glanced over at Luz, who shared a look of understanding with her. It was easy to forget that Luz, like Amity, wasn’t used to having people she could turn to. She was always so quick to help everyone else that sometimes Amity had to remind herself that Luz had never had any friends at all before coming to the Boiling Isles, let alone ones that would drop everything to go on death defying rescue missions with her. Neither of them were used to being able to ask for help, but they were learning.

The warning bell screeched across the courtyard then, forcing them all to part ways again. Willow made sure to give them both a quick hug to let them know she wasn’t mad at them before she trotted off to her Plant Track class. They would see Gus in Illusions later but, for now, she and Luz were headed to Healing and when they walked in, Luz nudged Amity towards their professor with an encouraging smile. Heart racing a little with the rush of their discovery still fresh on her mind, she made her way to the front of the class with Luz following behind her excitedly.

“Excuse me, Professor Febris?” Amity straightened her back and clasped her hands nervously behind her back when the gentle old woman smiled down at her from where she’d been making notes on the board for their lesson.

“What is it, dearie?” Professor Febris was generally well liked. Sweet and gentle but surprisingly strict when it came to health and safety (an unusual trait for teachers on the Isles, who generally encouraged brawls and mayhem), she had always struck Amity as someone who deserved respect. The few times she’d had to interact with her had always been after Grugby injuries and had involved some rather stern lectures about being more careful, but she found she liked the matronly old professor. Amity’s deeply ingrained need for approval from authority figures, especially ones she looked up to, made having to admit to what she’d done incredibly nerve wracking. Even if the outcome had been good in the end, Febris wasn’t going to like hearing about this.

“I’d like to talk to you about the homework you assigned last week.” Amity glanced awkwardly at Luz before looking back up at her professor. “I used the spell on Luz this weekend and got some…  _ unusual  _ results that I wanted to ask you about.” Professor Febris’s brow creased and she folded her arms, her entire demeanor shifting from openly friendly to disapproval in seconds. Amity gulped nervously, knowing a lecture was coming.

“You performed a Healing spell on your friend, unsupervised, with no prior experience in the field at all? What in Titan’s name would make you do such a foolish thing, Miss Blight? I would think you of all people would have learned the dangers of attempting magics we are not yet ready for.” Amity flinched, shoulders hunching a little and lowered her eyes to stare uncomfortably at her boots. She knew exactly what Febris was referring to. After all, the last time she’d tried experimenting with magic, she’d landed an entire Grudgby team in the Healer’s office.

“I… I know and normally I wouldn’t have tried, but Luz was badly hurt and I  had  to do something!” When Febris’s eyes narrowed at Amity, Luz stepped up in her defense.

“She’s right, Professor. We didn’t really have another choice at the time. I’m pretty sure Amity is a natural healer though, because she did something totally awesome with that spell like it was nothing!” Febris frowned at them seriously for a moment, as if gauging how much she should believe. After an agonizingly long few seconds, she huffed out a resigned breath and asked Amity to explain, which she did in a nervous rush. She was careful to leave out the details of how exactly Luz had gotten hurt in the first place. Febris didn’t need to know that it had been Amity’s fault. She felt guilty enough about it as it was and the Healer probably already thought of her as reckless. She did  _ not  _ need to solidify that opinion or another lecture about it today, so she focused instead on what had happened when she’d used the spell. 

Professor Febris’s stern stance hadn’t changed by the end of her story but her eyebrows did raise with curiosity and she motioned for Luz to come closer so she could inspect her hands. She took them into her own and tilted them about, eyeing Luz’s palms and fingers critically.

“Fascinating,” she muttered. “You say her hands were severely burned? To what degree would you estimate the burns to have been?” Amity hesitated. She’d only had one healing lesson so far and hadn’t had the time to go too in depth with her reading on it yet. She’d certainly been a lot more eager to look into it once they’d left the Knee but they’d arrived home so late and so tired that she and Luz had gone almost immediately to bed. As such, she wasn’t really sure how to describe Luz’s injuries in medical terms.

“I think they were second degree,” Luz piped up. Febris’s eyes widened at that.

“Deep tissue?” She asked and Luz nodded in response.

“Some of them, yeah.” Amity glanced at her curiously and when Luz met her eyes she smiled, shrugging a shoulder casually as Febris released her hands. “My mom is a nurse on Earth, remember? I’ve picked up some stuff over the years.” Professor Febris gave Luz a fond smile and chuckled.

“I’d like to think my lessons have taught you a few things as well, Miss Noceda. You are one of my most diligent pupils after all, even without the ability to perform spells. You have excellent bedside manner and gentle hands, I’m sure your mother would be proud.” Luz grinned at her, beaming with pride at the praise before Febris turned her eyes back on Amity, who shrank back anxiously. “While I cannot condone unsupervised experimentation with Healing magic, I must admit I’m intrigued by your results, Miss Blight. In all my years of teaching at Hexide, I’ve never seen such a basic spell be used to such apparently effective results. We shan’t jump to any conclusions just yet but, if you can recreate these results, you may well be a natural healer, as Miss Noceda so aptly put it.” 

Amity was positively giddy with joy at the thought. If even Professor Febris, a well respected Healer, thought she had potential, then maybe she really wasn’t as terrible at magic as she’d always thought. As a Healer, she could help so many people. She could show the world that there was more to her than what her family had tried to force her to be. Her future, while still so desperately uncertain compared to the rigid plans she’d been following her whole life, suddenly felt a lot brighter. Luz squealed excitedly beside her, latching onto Amity’s arm to give it a happy shake.

“This is so exciting!” She gushed happily, much to Febris’s apparent amusement. She chuckled at them warmly and fixed Amity with a pleased look.

“It is indeed. I look forward to seeing what you can do, Miss Blight. Now, please take your seats girls, class is about to begin.” The rest of the students had begun shuffling into the room so they moved to sit at their shared desk, briefly exchanging friendly waves with Cat from across the class. Amity made sure to pay extra attention throughout the lesson, determined to prove that she was, in fact, meant to do this. 

When it came time to practice the spell, Febris called in a few students with minor injuries for the class to try it on under her very watchful eye. The fact that there were already injuries that needed healing before the first class of the day had ended was one that didn’t really surprise Amity. Young teenagers attempting to bend the vast magical forces in the world to their inexperienced wills was a recipe for disaster on a good day and this was Hexide, a school well known for its weekly disasters. What did surprise her though, was that one of the students turned out to be Viney, who grinned brightly at them when she strolled into the room and happily agreed to be Amity’s practice dummy when Febris asked her.

“Puddles got into a little tiff with one of the other griffins and I had to break it up,” she explained as Amity and Luz inspected the rather deep looking claw marks on her forearm. The injury was a fair bit more serious than the scrapes and bruises the rest of the class had to deal with which, coupled with the way Febris seemed to be hovering near their table, made Amity wonder if perhaps she was testing her. Viney seemed wholly unconcerned though, chatting amicably as Amity carefully cleaned the cuts the way Professor Febris had shown them, pleased when the sight of the blood didn’t upset her at all. Luz’s injuries had certainly turned her stomach but that probably had more to do with it being Luz that was hurt and Amity who had hurt her.

“It got kinda nuts and I took a stray claw to the arm,” Viney said casually. “The griffins are in heat right now and that buck did  _ not  _ wanna go quietly. Lucky for me, Puddles is a tough girl and she doesn’t take crap. She had him pinned long enough for me and the team to get him tied up and out of her pen. Just another day in Beast Keeping, ay?” She added with a wink at Luz, who grinned back at her. 

Amity had only had one Beast Keeping class so far, late in the afternoon when they’d been getting the resident beasts settled for the day. Granted, she and Luz had been a little preoccupied with Eda’s disappearance at the time, but she certainly didn’t recall the class being anywhere near as wild as Viney made them out to be. 

Pushing thoughts of the potentially dangerous lessons she’d be having in the future from her mind, she focused instead on the task in front of her, trying hard to ignore the feeling of Professor Febris’s critical eyes on her back. She could do this. She’d done it twice now. This was easy. With a deep, calming breath, she twirled her finger over Viney’s arm and reached for that same connection to the spell she’d felt on the Knee. It fluttered in her chest and the familiar ghostly echo of pain tingled in her own arm. Latching onto it, she carefully pulled at the pain and drew it out like she’d done with Luz’s burns. The wound sealed before her eyes as the magic passed over it, the skin stitching itself back together seamlessly until there was no trace of the cuts left at all.

Delighted, Amity felt a wide grin spread across her cheeks. Some small part of her had been afraid that what had happened on the Knee had been an accident. That her ability to heal Luz had been born of desperation and a deep need to fix what she’d done to her girlfriend. But now she had proof. It hadn’t been a fluke after all. She really  _ could  _ do this! Viney was looking at her arm with open awe and she let out a low whistle as she ran her fingers over where the cuts had been. 

“Damn, Mittens. You sure you’ve never done this before?” She asked, clearly impressed and Amity flushed with pride, choosing to file away the fact that Viney had apparently taken to using the twins’s nickname for her. She’d have a conversation with Emira about that later. Febris leaned over to check her work and gave her a warm, approving smile when she stepped back.

“It would seem you weren’t exaggerating after all, Miss Blight. This is truly impressive for one so young and inexperienced.” She eyed Amity’s multicoloured uniform curiously and then leveled her with a contemplative look. “Would you consider switching your focus to Healing? It has been a very long time since I’ve seen a student with such raw potential in my class.”

Amity’s eyes widened. It was an honour to be asked to switch Tracks by a professor. It only happened on rare occasions when a student showed real, genuine potential for greatness in a particular Track. In recent memory, Willow had been the only student recommended by staff for a switch after she had shown her incredible affinity for Plant magic. That Febris wanted Amity to switch her focus purely to Healing was a huge boost to her confidence.

But it would mean giving up on the first important choice she’d ever gotten to make for herself. 

As much as she loved knowing that she, like the twins, had something she was naturally talented at, Amity was hesitant at the offer. She wanted to study Healing more in depth. Wanted to follow this new path she’d discovered for herself and see where it led. But she also wanted the chance to explore magic in all its forms now that she had the opportunity to. Being All Track meant she got to learn a little of everything and with all she’d seen and experienced recently, doing that felt more important.

She’d barely scratched the surface of the nine Tracks. The possibilities seemed endless. What she and Luz had done during Grom and what they’d done on the Knee were both glowing testaments to the fact that there was more to magic than they realised and she wanted to know more. Needed to. Besides, who was to say there wasn’t something else she was good at too? A part of her doubted she’d find another Track she felt as much of an affinity for as Healing, but there was always the possibility.

“I appreciate the offer, Professor, but I’d like to stay where I am for now,” she said, biting her lip hesitantly. “I only just started studying all of the Tracks and I’d like to learn more about them before I choose just one.” It was mostly true. She didn’t really think she’d ever be able to choose just one now, but Febris didn’t need to know that. Who knew what she might achieve by mixing Healing magic with the other Tracks. She and Luz might even be able to help Eda after all, with a little experimentation. Supervised by Eda herself of course. Amity had learned her lesson on that front. To her relief, Professor Febris simply nodded and smiled at her.

“That’s perfectly understandable, dearie. Perhaps, by the end of the year, you will find a few Tracks you’re willing to leave behind. The offer to switch wholly to Healing is always open to you, but I’ll be happy to have you in as many classes as I can get.” She nodded at Amity and walked off to another table to help one of the other students, who seemed to be having trouble maintaining their spell. When she was gone, Amity let out a breath and turned to look at Luz, who was gazing at her proudly.

“You are gonna be the best Healer in the world some day,” she said, with such confidence that it made Amity’s heart flutter. 

She tried to picture it. Amity Blight, the most renowned Healer on the Boiling Isles. She could revolutionise the field. Find new and more effective ways of helping those in need by blending her magic with other Tracks. Maybe she could even talk to Luz’s mom and mix in some human healing. Make everyone see there was more to humans than they thought. Luz would love that. The future it all painted filled her with a bubbly sort of excitement she’d never experienced before and she realised she wanted it. A lot. It was a dream she’d found for herself and she was more determined to have it than she’d ever been about joining the Emperor’s Coven. Heart soaring and full, she smiled back at her girlfriend, eyes soft and cheeks warm.

“Thanks, Luz. I like the sound of that,” she replied honestly. A quiet snicker made Amity look up to see Viney smirking at them.

“You two are adorable, you know that?” She smirked, before popping out of her seat. “I’ve gotta head back to the paddocks to make sure Puddles is okay, but I’ll see you two saps after class at the Owl House, yeah?” She slipped out of the classroom with a wink, tossing a finger gun at them and leaving Luz and Amity staring after her in confusion. 

“What do you think that was about?” Luz asked curiously. Amity shrugged helplessly. She didn’t know Viney nearly well enough to puzzle her out and they had a busy schedule of classes ahead of them, so she put thoughts of the girl out of her mind for the rest of the day. They’d find out soon enough anyway.

True to her word, Viney came knocking when they’d made their way home after classes were over, stopping to exchange pleasantries with a thrilled Hooty before she trotted into the Owl House like she was a regular there. She plopped down on the sofa beside Luz, much to King’s dismay as he scrambled to avoid being squished between them. He glared at her from where he settled in Amity’s lap while Viney fished around in a fuzzy satchel at her side, pulling something out and presenting it to an intrigued Luz with a flourish.

“Special order, directly from the twins,” she said, slapping what turned out to be a brand new Scroll into her hands. Amity, who was seated on Luz’s other side, leaned in to look at it and her eyes widened.

“Oh! I almost forgot about this.” So much had happened since she’d asked the twins to get Luz a Scroll that it had completely slipped her mind and boy had they delivered. Despite their apparent grounding, they’d somehow gotten Luz what appeared to be the newest model available. 

“Viney! This is awesome, thank you!” Luz said, staring down at the Scroll in her hands with fascination while King pawed at her pocket gleefully.

“Now that you have your own Scroll, I’ll take your magic box,” he said, trying unsuccessfully to get past Luz’s defensively swatting hands. “You’re the one always saying we should share! So share already! Gimme!” Amity had to practically drag him away from Luz, ignoring his angry little grunts and whines as he tried to pry himself free from her arms. Luz snatched her phone from her pocket and curled herself away from him with a ridiculous hiss.

“King! You know my phone isn’t the same as a Scroll. I need it to talk to my mom!” She said, holding it out of reach. While King and Luz exchanged increasingly loud hisses and pulled their faces at one another, Amity looked up at Viney and smiled at her gratefully like there wasn’t a very childish fight breaking out on the sofa between them.

“Thank you for bringing that all the way here, but you really didn’t need to go to so much trouble. You could have just given it to us at school,” she said. Viney waved a hand at her dismissively.

“Don’t worry about it. Anything to get me in good with your sister,” she said, waggling her eyebrows at Amity who rolled her eyes and looked away to hide her blush. She did  _ not  _ need to picture why Viney might want to ‘get in good’ with Emira. The very thought made her shudder.

“Besides, that’s not the only reason I came.” Viney turned to the door and grinned widely. “Hey, Hooty! That’s your cue, buddy!” A loud ruckus outside and Hooty’s grating voice filled the room when the front door swung open, breaking up the little scuffle between King and Luz and making all of them flinch visibly.

“Anything for my new beeeeest friend! Here comes the Hooty Express, hooty hoot, hoot!” He sang in a voice so shrill it sent shivers down Amity’s spine. Even worse was when Hooty curled himself into the room, his long, disturbingly soft, serpentine body writhing into the space from somewhere out in the yard. Balanced precariously on the length of his grotesque back were two large beds that he just barely managed to fit through the door before dropping them unceremoniously into the middle of the living room with a resounding crash. Humming happily to himself, he wriggled his way over to Viney, who patted his head affectionately in thanks.

“What in Titan’s name is going on in here?” Drawn by the commotion, Eda walked in from the kitchen where she’d been in the middle of making potions, her hair pulled back into a messy tail that was frizzing all over the place from the steam coming off her brew. She looked from the beds sitting smack in the centre of her living room to King and the three girls on the sofa, one of whom was inexplicably petting Hooty like a favourite pet and crossed her arms. “I don’t know this one,” she said, propping one elbow in the crook of her folded arm to point at Viney curiously. “This another one of your friends, Luz?”

Luz, who had been staring in shock and confusion at the new furniture in the room, looked up at Eda and nodded. 

“Uh, yeah… this is Viney. Viney, this is Eda.” Viney grinned and waved at Eda who narrowed her eyes.

“Why is she dumping stuff in my house?” She leaned over towards Amity and Luz cautiously and lifted a hand to her mouth to talk from behind it, weary eyes never leaving Viney. “And why is she  _ touching  _ Hooty?” She asked as if the very idea disturbed her. Amity had to agree with the sentiment. The few times Hooty had come into contact with her in any way had been horrifying. He was entirely too squirmy and weirdly  _ moist _ , which made no sense because he was meant to be made of wood. Or flesh. Or feathers? She honestly wasn’t sure and that made it so much worse, especially when she remembered him pressing himself up against her  _ face _ .

“I’m uh… not sure?” Luz said, looking at Viney questioningly and the older girl laughed, leaning an arm against a positively preening Hooty.

“Well, last time I came round, Hooty and I were having ourselves a little chat and it happened to come up that neither of you have beds. That didn’t fly with the twins and they asked me to bring these along with the Scroll today,” she said, waving her free arm at the two beds. Luz’s eyes widened excitedly.

“Seriously?” She leapt off the sofa and danced on the spot happily. “No more sleeping on the floor! Yes, yes, yes,  _ yes _ !” While she darted around the coffee table to bounce eagerly beside the beds, eyes shining over her huge grin, Amity stared at Viney in utter shock.

“How did they even  _ get  _ these?” She asked and Viney snorted through a shrug.

“I’ve learned not to question things when it comes to those two,” she said, which Amity could understand fully. Sometimes the things the twins could do frightened her a little. They were so naturally talented, creative and downright crafty that it was almost lucky they were usually too lazy to really apply themselves. If they ever thought to try, Amity was fairly certain the two of them could wreak unspeakable havoc on the Boiling Isles. Or take over it entirely depending on how they were feeling that day. Eda’s annoyed growl cut through her, hopefully over exaggerated, musings and Amity looked up to see her pouting, arms folded like a grumpy toddler. 

“I was  _ planning  _ on getting you girls more permanent stuff since you’re apparently gonne be around for a while but now I guess I don’t have to. Those kids are making me look bad,” she added with a huff that made Luz giggle. Eda turned annoyed eyes on Hooty who was still happily humming to himself under Viney’s arm. “You and I are gonna have a talk about spilling all the house secrets to strangers, birdbrain! Now get back to guarding the house like you’re supposed to. Who knows how many Coven Guards have been sneaking around while you’re in here making yourself cozy.” She swatted at him and he slithered away with an indignant squawk.

“Geez, you never let me have any fun! Hoot!” The door swung shut behind him and Viney stood to brush a few of Hooty’s feathers from her uniform.

“Well that’s my cue. It’s been fun but it’s time to cash in all the girlfriend points I’ve been racking up playing delivery girl for you two. See ya in class, cuties!” She said before slipping out with a casual wave. It took all of her considerable will for Amity to ignore that last comment, for the sake of her own sanity. She turned instead to a still bouncing Luz and grinned at her happy squeal.

“I know they haven’t always been the best but I love your brother and sister,” she gushed. Amity laughed and rolled her eyes as she stood, setting King on the ground at her feet so that he could scurry up onto one of the beds and perch himself there to test out the mattress. Apparently finding it to his liking, he promptly curled himself up and went straight to sleep.

“Yeah, they’re definitely making up for a lot with this. No offense to that nest you made me, but I cannot  wait  to sleep in a real bed again,” Amity said with utter relief. As sweet as Luz had been to put it together for her, cushions and blankets on a hardwood floor did not exactly make for an easy night’s sleep. Eda scoffed at them, twirling a finger to lift the beds into the air with a bit of magic, heedless of King who yelped when his napping spot tilted beneath him, claws gripping onto the mattress tightly.

“Beds are fine but a nest? Now  _ that’s  _ the best way to sleep. One day you kids will learn but, in the meantime, I suppose these will do.” She strolled off towards the stairs, the beds bobbing along behind her.

“Unhand me witch! Eda! I demand you let me down! Please, I’m gonna be sick!” King cried. Amity and Luz scrambled to follow them, neither wanting their bed to be the one King defiled. Once the (thankfully vomit-free) beds were settled into their respective rooms, they spent a few moments setting them up with the various cushions and covers they already had. The pink blanket and white pillows on hers added a nice touch of colour to Amity’s otherwise very bland room. Besides a chest of drawers and a tall cabinet that held her rescued clothing, the room was empty. 

Having a bed again was great but it was still depressingly sparse in there. She longed for a little decoration but they hadn’t had the time to do anything with the room yet. The thought made her feel like a selfish child and guilt over it swirled in her stomach. Eda had opened her home to her and Amity would never be able to tell her exactly how grateful she was for that, but sometimes she still felt a little like she didn’t belong there. Like she was standing in a guest room rather than her own space.

Despite her very valid reason for leaving and the ever present ache of her parent’s total and complete rejection of her, when she wasn’t being distracted by school or Luz or terrifying rescue missions, Amity found herself missing the manor. Yes, she’d spent most of her days there miserable, stressed out and exhausted in every way, but there had been good moments too.

Quiet days spent reading on her window sill in the warm sun, hidden behind her curtains where no one could find her. Listening to the distinctive sounds of the twins scrambling about beyond her bedroom door while they got into all sorts of trouble. Getting lost amongst the many shelves of their private library and running her fingers along the dusty spines, looking for something new and interesting to study. Evenings spent sipping cool drinks and counting the stars on the balcony with her family around her, no one talking and all quietly going about their own business, but  _ there  _ none the less. She missed the familiarity of the home she’d grown up in. She missed the innocent, ignorant bliss of the life she’d had before her world had been shattered by the people meant to protect her and the rug of her childhood had been yanked from beneath her feet.

She’d only been away from home for a week but she knew she would never be able to go back and she missed it dearly. Missed her old room and its tidy but obviously lived-in feel filled with memories that made it her own. The twins may have saved her clothing and the Grom note and she loved them for that, but their idea of ‘personal items’ had been a few books and the Emperor’s Coven poster she’d had taped to her wall, which she had promptly destroyed when she’d found it tucked into one of the bags they’d sent. They hadn’t saved anything she might actually want to keep, which said a lot about how much mending their relationship still needed. 

Things like the little Otabin plush that she’d kept under her bed from when she was just a child. Or the photo of her and Willow at her birthday party that she’d had tucked away in her bookshelf. Her lockbox. Her Grom crown. Little pieces of herself that she’d collected and saved over the years that were now gone forever. No matter how grateful she was that she had somewhere safe to stay where she was loved and free to express herself, a part of her longed for home and the Owl House didn’t feel quite like one yet. Not when she was alone anyway. 

So Amity turned from her empty room and walked over to Luz’s instead, tamping down the guilt of her ungrateful thoughts with a smile when she knocked on the frame of Luz’s open door.

“Hey, can I come in?” She asked tentatively. Luz looked up from where she was arranging an array of cushions and plushies at the head of her bed and smiled at Amity brightly.

“Of course you can. You’re always welcome in here.” She flopped onto her new bed and patted the purple bed covers beside her invitingly, which Amity was more than happy to accept. She curled herself up next to Luz, careful to avoid King who was dozing on the end of the bed and tucked her feet in under her so she could lean into her girlfriend. Luz slipped an arm around her and Amity let out a content sigh, already feeling far more at home as she watched Luz fiddle happily with her new Scroll.

“This thing is weirdly similar to my phone,” she said as she poked at the papery screen with her thumb. “It’s always neat seeing something here that’s a magical version of something from Earth.” She tilted the screen so Amity could get a clearer look. “Ed and Em even put their contacts in here. Yours too. We can spend all night texting each other!” She said and Amity chuckled. Luz’s endless enthusiasm for all things magic never ceased to bring a fond smile to her face.

“Luz, my room is literally next door. You just have to talk loudly enough and I’ll hear you.” Luz shrugged, seemingly unconcerned.

“Yeah, but texting you will be way more fun.” As if to prove her point, she typed out a quick message and sent it off with a grin. Amity rolled her eyes in amusement when a little musical chime played from her Scroll and sat up to summon it.

_ Unknown Rune: _ Hi amity! Guess who? ( ﾉ ◕ ヮ ◕ ) ﾉ *: ・ﾟ ✧

She snorted out a laugh, grinning as she stared at the ridiculous little character Luz had somehow drawn into the text with just shapes and symbols. Of course she’d found a way to be an adorable dork even over text. A few taps at the screen later and she had added Luz’s rune sequence to her Scroll. If she added a little heart or two next to her name, no one needed to know.

“There’s actually a reason I asked the twins to get you one of these,” she said once she’d sent her scroll away.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I thought that, since your phone seems to work here, then maybe when… when you have to go home, the Scroll will work the same way. We can use it to keep in touch,” Amity said quietly. Luz stilled, looking up from where she’d been messing with her Scroll to meet her eyes sadly. Amity’s chest felt tight at the thought of Luz having to leave not too far in the future. They didn’t talk about it much but her looming deadline was a constant dark cloud that hung over the both of them. 

Even if things went perfectly and, by some miracle Luz’s mother didn’t have any problems with where Luz had really been all summer, Amity still doubted she would let Luz live permanently in the Owl house. In spite of the problems between them that Luz had told her about, she got the impression that Camila Noceda really loved her daughter and no loving parent would want their child permanently living in someone else’s home. Not that she knew what that was like of course. 

Logically she knew it wasn’t exactly healthy for them to be living in the same space when they were so young and in a romantic relationship but Amity would take that over potentially never getting to see her again. She liked having Luz around all the time and when she eventually had to leave, Amity would miss her desperately.

“Oh…” The arm around Amity’s shoulder tightened slightly. “I guess I forgot about that with everything that's been going on.” Luz frowned down at her Scroll and then looked back up at Amity hesitantly. “But… there’s no magic on Earth. Don’t Scrolls need it to work?” 

That was a fair question. Amity wasn’t exactly sure how scrolls functioned. She knew magic was obviously involved but she’d never bothered looking into how they worked, so long as the one she had  _ did  _ work. Even when it didn’t she’d usually just have it sent in for repairs or get a new one without thinking about it. She supposed she probably took the devices a little for granted.

“Maybe?” She said hesitantly. “I’m not really sure but it’s worth a try. And if it doesn’t work then I’ll find some way of getting a human phone. We’ll figure something out.” She leaned against Luz and tucked her head into her neck, her throat tightening as she spoke. She needed Luz to know how much she meant to her, even if talking about it out loud made Amity feel terribly vulnerable and exposed. “Whatever it takes, I promise. I’m not ready to give you up, Noceda. Not when I just got you.” She felt Luz take in a shaky breath before she set her scroll aside so she could slip that arm around Amity and draw her in close.

“Whatever it takes,” she agreed and that tiny admission was enough to flood Amity with warmth because she knew Luz didn’t want to lose her either. Soft lips pressed gently to the top of Amity’s head in a featherlight kiss and she sank into Luz with a hum. She let her eyes drift shut and wrapped her own arms around Luz’s waist, surrounding herself with that familiar, lemony scent that was so uniquely her. They may not have a lot of time left together but Amity would savour every second she had with this girl who had made her life so much brighter.

“Why don’t you just visit each other through the door?” A voice snapped at them and they both looked up sharply to where King was still curled up at the end of Luz’s bed, apparently not quite as asleep as he’d been pretending to be. He hadn’t opened his eyes and wasn’t looking at them but the slight tilt of his head in their direction showed he had been listening. “It’s not like the door is going anywhere and Eda’s such a softy these days that you know she’ll let you use it. Stop acting like you’re never gonna see each other again. Your sweet, dramatic teenage yearning is sickening!” He glared at them for a moment before curling in on himself again and shutting his eyes to sleep. Or at least keep pretending to. A relieved laugh bubbled its way out of Luz and she gave Amity a little squeeze.

“The demon on my bed makes a good point. Not about us being sickening coz, rude,” she said, glowering at King’s back. “But we  _ could  _ still visit each other. The shack where the portal opens on Earth is really close to my house. I could come over after school or you could come visit me.”

Amity’s jaw fell open and she stared at Luz, utterly flummoxed. A moment ago it had felt like she might be on the cusp of losing her to another world forever. Like her own world might end with Luz’s departure. Then King had dumped ice cold logic all over her spiralling thoughts and she suddenly felt like a complete fool. A deep flush spread across her cheeks. Stars, was this a part of puberty? If it was she wanted a refund because she did  _ not  _ like how quickly her emotions had swallowed her common sense just then.

“I… How did we not think of that?” She asked and Luz laughed again.

“I guess all the ‘teenage yearning’ was making our brains a little foggy,” she said, leaning in to press a quick kiss to Amity’s lips, mindful of the fact that King clearly wasn’t as asleep as he was making himself out to be. “I’m just glad we have a plan now. Even if mami doesn’t want me coming back here after we tell her everything, I’ll find a way to sneak over if I have to. She’s not home enough to stop me anyway.” Her slightly bitter tone at the end twinged Amity’s heart. 

She knew that, while she was certainly a large part of the reason she was so determined to come back to the Boiling Isles, Luz really didn’t want to lose the one place she felt like she could be herself. A place she’d found all her own dreams coming true. Dreams of friendship and adventure and magic that she had never imagined she’d have in her lifetime on Earth. Amity wanted all those things for her too. Luz was the kindest person Amity had ever met and she deserved to have everything she wanted and more.

Maybe her reasons weren’t all entirely selfless. Maybe Amity wanted Luz to stay on the Isles for herself as well. But she also knew she would do whatever it took to make sure Luz got to come home so she could be happy too. Whether that meant persuading Camila or just sneaking Luz back through the door whenever she could, Amity would do it. Because this was Luz’s home now. She belonged on the Boiling Isles and no one would ever convince Amity otherwise.

* * *

Guess who's back? So I know I don't technically owe anyone an explanation, but I do feel bad about the awfully long wait and I am so grateful to anyone still around to read this ridiculously late update so I'm gonna try and explain anyway.

The last two months have been... rough. My job was an endless source of frustration and irritation and it was just so mentally and emotionally draining that I was incapable of doing anything creative. I could probably have forced myself to write but the last thing I wanted was for all that negativity to become associated with this fic by making myself work on it when I just wasn't up for it. I know myself well enough to know that I would begin to HATE this fic if I did that and I'd stop working on it entirely. I don't want that to happen. I have all these plans for it and I want to see them through. So I hope you guys can understand the long wait and I'm really sorry about making you sit through it. I'm on break now and feeling MUCH better about writing so that's some good news. Maybe you'll take the art I added to the end of chapter 5 as a peace offering haha.

As for this chapter, it was an interesting one to write. I had fun with Luz and Amity being kind of over dramatic about some things. Oh to be a teenager going through puberty. God it was awful, I do NOT miss that. This chapter's also got a fair bit of set up in it and some hints for plans I have for the future. Looking forward to seeing what you guys make of it and I can't wait for the next chapter coz it's gonna be pretty much pure fluff. The girls deserve a break after the rocky start to their relationship. If you follow my instagram or twitter then you might have an idea of what's coming. It was meant to be in this chapter but this one ended up waaaay longer than intended so it got split.


	10. Understanding Connections Part 1

Amity was very quickly discovering why there weren’t more students studying multiple tracks now that the option was available to them. 

Being All-Track was an exhausting nightmare.

With nine Tracks and three classes a week for each, Amity was very quickly becoming overwhelmed. Each Track required that she understand their basic casting methods, which all had different fundamental spells attached to them. That meant eight new spells. Eight new sets of homework and  _ nine _ Tracks to stay current with. It was enough to make her head spin.

And they were all so different from what she’d imagined!

Construction magic, for instance, wasn’t just about building homes as she’d previously thought. It was a lot more nuanced and artistic than that. She’d learned that the fundamentals of Construction magic were based in stone and wood weaving spells, which witches used to create furniture, sculptures and all manner of other things that she’d been using her whole life and never bothered to think about. 

Her first Construction lesson had required her to bend a solid block of wood into a basic little lockbox that she’d been allowed to keep at the end of the class. Happy as she was with it though, the spell had been very draining. Granted, it probably hadn’t helped that it was the last class of the day and she had already performed a lot of magic in her other lessons, but still, the strain had been intense. Maybe it was time to pick up some of her old grudgby exercise routines again... She could use the stamina boost.

Then she’d learned that what she’d done was only the start of the wood weaving she’d have to learn. Stone weaving was apparently a lot harder and after that came metal, which Amity couldn’t even fathom trying to manipulate. It was no wonder that power glyphs were so commonly used in the Construction Coven.

And that was just one class of many. It was all very fascinating and she was learning so much but, to put it bluntly, Amity was drowning.

She was pretty sure the only reason Luz hadn’t gone completely mad with the stress by now was that she couldn’t actually perform the spells themselves. Instead, she focused on the theory behind each so she could better understand how the magic worked and then spent the practical portions of their lessons trying to decipher glyphs from her classmates’ castings. 

In spite of her lack of magic, Luz never failed to be enthusiastic in everything she did in school. She listened intently, took excellent notes and made very insightful observations during class discussions. She had floored Amity with how well she understood the underlying mechanics of magic when Luz had only been studying it for about two months.

It only took one weirdly coincidental Tuesday to start to understand how though. 

They walked into the greenhouse with Willow for their morning Plant Track lesson to the sight of a long row of potted plants lined up on the workbench. Their professor introduced them as a demonic aloe that was used in several different potions to help soothe pain and then promptly had them begin harvesting the leaves for the school’s stock of ingredients. 

Willow was happily talking their ears off about the aloe and all the best ways to handle and care for it as they worked. How to prune it so that it grew back healthier and stronger. How it could be cut open and the sap inside it applied directly to wounds in a pinch. She even told them about various other plants that could be used for similar purposes. Amity found herself smiling as Willow went on and on with all the confidence of an expert. She was in her element here and it showed.

Then later, in Potions, they brewed a balm that was used by the Healing coven to ease burns. The same one that she and Luz had ultimately tossed aside on the Knee because her injuries had been too severe for the simple cream. The school’s Healing students had run out of their stock after several classes had been set ablaze in a freak accident (somehow involving the Bard Track) and it was their job to replace the supply. 

To Amity’s surprise, one of the ingredients was the very aloe they’d harvested that morning and many of the others were ones Willow had mentioned during her mini lecture. Knowing the properties of the ingredients and how to properly handle them had helped Amity immensely during the brewing process and led to her creating a very passable balm by the end of class. It hadn’t been quite the right consistency but her professor claimed it would serve just fine. Luz’s balm had been near perfect but that was hardly surprising considering who she lived with and how much more practice she had with potion brewing.

They met up with Gus and Willow at lunch and the conversation drifted to what they’d all done that day so far. Amity brought up the way two of their morning classes had been so weirdly connected to one another and was in the middle of explaining to a beaming Willow how helpful her tips had been in Potions when she caught Luz giving her a curious look. She hid it behind her sandwich when she caught Amity looking though, which confused her until their next lesson, which was Healing.

Professor Febris tasked them with using the exact balm they’d just finished brewing on the injured students and walked them through the various ways it could be combined with a healing spell to increase the effects where necessary.

As Amity carefully applied the balm to a burn that wasn’t quite bad enough to bother using magic on, she frowned to herself, mind racing. Each class they’d had so far had led into the next and had helped her do better. She’d gotten a deeper understanding of what she was doing and she hadn’t struggled once all day. She’d never experienced a day like it before. It had been a lot to learn, sure, but it was somehow easier than studying Abominations alone had ever been.

Glancing up when something shifted beside her, Amity caught Luz giving her that same curious look as she finished applying the balm to her patient and sent them off. Luz didn’t turn away this time, watching her openly with a not-at-all-subtle questioning look in her eyes and Amity felt a light grin tug at her lips. Something was clearly on the girl’s mind and she wasn’t hiding it very well at all.

Luz was insatiably curious, almost to a fault. It was one of the many things Amity loved about her. Coupled with her tendency to be impatient, it had gotten Luz in trouble more than once since coming to the Boiling Isles but she was slowly learning to temper it with experience. Amity admired that.

Before, Luz might have (and had) let her curiosity overwhelm her into invading Amity’s privacy but she’d apparently learned her lesson because it was clear she wanted to know something and was trying very hard not to be nosy. She was also still staring at Amity. Stars, she was  _ not  _ subtle but it was  _ so  _ cute. Amity’s grin tugged into a smirk as she turned to face Luz more fully, raising a brow at her.

“Okay, you’ve been staring all day so spill. What’s going on in that head of yours, Noceda?” She asked and was startled by the way Luz seemed to tense up, her cheeks darkening noticeably.

Was Luz... blushing? What had she said that could possibly elicit a reaction like that? Luz laughed almost nervously, her eyes shifting about to look anywhere but at Amity for a moment and the sight gave Amity a strangely smug sense of accomplishment. For once, she wasn’t the one being a blushy, stuttering mess. Oh, she was going to find out whatever had triggered this because somehow, she had  _ flustered  _ Luz and she was going to do it again.

“I uh…” Luz cleared her throat and chuckled awkwardly. “I was just wondering what you were thinking so hard about. You’ve had this intense ‘concentration face’ going on all day and when you get like that it's usually coz your big brain is working overtime. So what gives?” She propped her chin on her hand and grinned, reaching up to playfully tap at Amity’s forehead with her free hand. “What’s my girl got cookin’ up there?”

Oh… _ My girl _ . Amity liked that a  _ lot _ . It made her feel all fluttery and giddy inside. A deep warmth built up in her chest, climbing her throat to flush her cheeks and the smug tilt to Luz’s grin was more than enough to let Amity know she had gone very red. Stars be damned!

It was unfair how quickly Luz could turn the tables on her and she’d done it so casually! She was positively preening about it too. Amity  _ had _ to figure out what she’d done to fluster the girl because there was no way she was losing to Luz at this. Doing her best to school her features, she decided to focus on what Luz had asked so she had time to cool off her burning cheeks.

“I was thinking about how everything we’ve done today was so weirdly connected. Each class helped with the next one. Is it always like this for you?” She asked and Luz shrugged.

“It’s not always as conveniently co-ordinated as it was today but, yeah, sort of,” she said. “Have you… never noticed the connections before?”

“No. I didn’t even know you could mix magic until what we did at Grom and on the Knee. Before now, all I ever learned outside of the basic spells was Abomination magic and a few small Illusions from the twins and I never thought to try combining them in any way. It’s not something you’d normally do. I never realised how much all the Tracks are linked.” She folded her arms and leaned back in her seat, frowning down at their shared desk in thought. “It’s like each one makes the next stronger or easier. Or both!”

“Well…  _ yeah _ ,” Luz said incredulously and Amity snapped her head up to find the girl staring at her like she’d just said something as obvious as ‘the sky is violet’. “I figured that out in like, my first week here. Magic is  _ all about _ connections. It’s everywhere! I had to learn that to get my second spell and it helped me learn the others too. I thought everyone knew this stuff.”

“What?” She asked, shock lacing her tone. “Luz, how in Titan’s name would anyone know this? It’s not exactly something they teach here. Until you came along, everyone only learned one Track, remember?” Luz blinked at her and tilted her thoughtfully.

“Huh, I guess,” she said, frowning lightly. “It just seems kinda weird that they wouldn’t at least teach you a  _ little  _ about how all this stuff fits together. I mean, why wouldn’t they want you to understand how magic works? It makes so much more sense when you see the whole picture.” She hesitated for a second before she looked over to where Febris was helping a student with their patient. “Maybe we shouldn’t talk about this here?” 

Amity could practically see the gears turning in Luz’s head and whatever it was that she was thinking seemed to concern her. Maybe this conversation really was best left for the Owl House. Eda probably had plenty to say on the matter anyway, given her status as a wild witch.

“Well,” she said, with a teasing grin that she hoped might help ease whatever tension Luz was feeling. “I guess since you’re such an expert, you’ll just have to teach me what you know when we get home,  _ Professor Noceda _ .” Just like that, the frown melted from Luz’s face and her cheeks lit up again in a bright flush.

“A... _ Amity _ !” She yelped and Amity’s eyes widened. Luz was flustered! But what had… oh.  _ Oh _ ! There was only one common thread there. A slow smirk spread across her cheeks and she leaned in a little closer to Luz, feeling emboldened by her little discovery.

“What’s wrong,  _ Noceda _ ?” She purred, delighting in how Luz gulped nervously and her blush darkened. “Was it something I said?” 

Luz blinked once. Twice. Then she seemed to come back to herself and that accursed lopsided grin of hers was there, making Amity’s heart flutter. She leaned in as well, closing the distance until they were almost nose to nose and it was Amity’s turn to flush.

“Yeah, actually. I think you might wanna rethink your phrasing there,  _ Blight _ ,” Luz said and her grin turned so smug that it sent Amity’s brain stuttering. Oh this was a dangerous little game to be playing in the middle of their Healing lesson. They’d been affectionate in public before sure, but there was something distinctly different about this. This felt more… thrilling somehow. 

But wait, what had Luz meant about phrasing? She thought back to what she’d said and Luz’s reaction to it. How could it be taken any way other than… oh. Oh Titan’s foot! Her entire face blazed red and she let out a very undignified yelp that made Luz burst out laughing.  _ Loudly _ .

“Luz! For the love of… you  _ know  _ I didn’t mean… Titan give me strength, you’re worse than Eda!” She covered her burning face and Luz only laughed harder, drawing the attention of several of their classmates. She’d done it again! Luz had flipped the script on her!

“Sorry! I’m Sorry, you just made that too easy!” She gasped out between laughs and Amity was fairly certain she was anything but sorry. She glared at her half-heartedly through her fingers, torn between mortified amusement and affectionate annoyance. It wasn’t fair. The girl recovered from being flustered way too fast and she was too damn good at turning it back around on Amity. How was she supposed to beat that? Luz had too much power!

“Miss Noceda, would you like to share the joke with the rest of the class?” Professor Febris’s voice cut sharply over Luz’s laughter and she stopped in an instant. Wincing, she rubbed at the back of her neck, chuckling nervously when Febris glared at her from the front of the class.

“Sorry, Professor F! Won’t happen again,” she said and Febris huffed.

“I should hope not. Our patients deserve a calm space to be healed in, as I’m sure you are aware by now. I would hate to think that you and Miss Blight can’t be trusted to share a desk in my classroom.” The class snickered around them and Amity sank into her seat, wishing the floor would open up and swallow her whole. They both mumbled apologies that Febris seemed to accept, though not without another sharp warning look. When she went back to helping the student she’d been busy with, Amity caught Luz’s eye and they giggled quietly together.

“Maybe we shouldn’t be flirting in class,” Amity chuckled and Luz scoffed in feigned indignation.

“You started it!” She laughed. Amity’s jaw fell.

“What? I did not!” She yelped and Luz’s grin widened, nudging Amity’s side with her elbow.

“Yeah you did! Calling me Noceda with that  _ face _ ? You knew exactly what you were doing!” Amity blushed and whipped her head away to hide her flaming cheeks. Luz was right of course.  _ Technically _ she had started it, but there was no way she was letting Luz win here. She already got to win at flirting and Amity was going to keep her dignity if it killed her.

“I-I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she pouted and Luz giggled.

“ _ Sure _ you don’t,” she said and Amity could practically hear Luz’s smug expression. Ok, it was so on now. She was going to figure out a way to control her stupid cheeks and she was  _ going _ to win at this. Someday, somehow, she was going to beat Luz Noceda at flirting!

They stuck to working in silence after that. Purely to avoid further scoldings of course and not at all because Amity was silently grumbling about her defeat at the hands of an adorably evil human. When classes ended they met with their friends outside and, to make up for leaving them out of the ‘adventure’ over the weekend, Luz invited them to hang out at the Owl House. 

Luz was trotting up ahead with Gus, chattering excitedly to him as they walked. From what Amity could hear, it sounded like they were talking about his recent readmittance into the Human Appreciation Society. She watched them from where she was walking beside Willow and marvelled at how fascinated Gus was with everything Luz said. 

She’d never had the chance to really talk to the boy. If she were being honest she’d never had the interest either. He was just a kid after all and she’d never even met him before befriending Luz. She felt sort of bad about it now since they were meant to be friends, but really, Amity knew almost nothing about him. 

That would have to change. Gus was a good friend to not only Luz, but Willow as well and, if Amity wanted to be a part of this group, she couldn’t ignore him. She just had no idea how to go about talking to him.

Edric was the only boy she ever spent any large amounts of time with and that was only because they were related, no matter how hard she found that to believe sometimes. Gus, on the other hand, was two years younger than her and she’d had very little cause to spend time around him before now. How in Titan’s name was she supposed to work with that? She knew someone who  _ did  _ know him pretty well though and that someone was walking right next to her.

“Willow?” She started and the shorter girl glanced over at her curiously. Amity hesitated for a second, not quite sure how to ask, but she decided to just be upfront about it. Willow appreciated honesty after all. “What can you tell me about Gus?”

“Well, we’ve been friends for ages, so quite a lot. Why do you ask?” She asked and Amity was glad not to hear any suspicion or mistrust in her tone. Just open curiosity.

“It’s just… he’s your friend and Luz’s too. I want to get to know him better but I don’t know how.” This was ridiculous. She was  _ being _ ridiculous. It wasn’t like she’d never met new people before... but she didn’t exactly have a great track record with making friends on her own. Not since she’d been a kid anyway. 

Every one of the friendships she’d had since Willow had been carefully orchestrated through chaperoned playdates and practiced interactions that had felt more like putting on a performance than actual friend-making. In fact, Amity could distinctly remember more than one occasion where her mother had forced her to memorise lines to say to Boscha and Skara when they’d first met.

Luz was the first real friend she’d made on her own after losing Willow and Amity really didn’t want to have to go through several near death experiences just to befriend Gus. There  _ had  _ to be an easier way.

“Have you tried, I dunno,  _ talking  _ to him?” Willow giggled and Amity huffed at her in annoyance. As if it were that simple!

“Willow, I don’t have anything in common with him! What could we possibly talk about?” She asked and Willow snorted at her in amusement.

“Gee, maybe your mutual love of humans? Or one human in particular anyway. I’m sure Gus would have plenty to say about  _ that  _ if you asked,” Willow grinned at her and Amity levelled her with a withering look. 

“Ok, so if you don’t want to talk to him about  _ humans _ , then why not talk about school?” Willow said. “He’s a smart kid and you’re in the same Track now. Maybe he can help you and you guys can bond over how big your brains are.”

Amity frowned and looked up to where Gus was eagerly scribbling down notes about whatever human thing Luz was talking about. They were a little too far ahead now to hear but, by the way Luz was leaning back and gesturing with one arm stretched out and the other resting on an imaginary surface, it seemed like she might be explaining those ‘car’ things to him.

“I guess school could be a good place to start,” she said hesitantly. Gus seemed like a pretty driven kid so they had that in common and Willow was right about him being smart. She might not know much about the boy but she  _ did _ know he’d skipped a few grades. They shared a class after all.

“It’s really sweet that you want to get to know Gus, but you’re overthinking it, Ammy,” Willow said, placing a comforting hand on Amity’s shoulder. “Just relax and talk to him, you’ll see. Gus is really easy to get along with.”

When they arrived home the group hurried inside, wanting to avoid Hooty’s rambling story about his very exciting day that somehow involved a tea party and another bug he’d apparently befriended and then eaten. Luz darted onto the sofa and, much to Amity’s annoyance, Willow plopped down beside Luz in the corner so that Amity would be forced to sit on her other side. Next to Gus. How very subtle.

She scowled at her briefly but Willow just grinned and waved her towards where Gus had kindly sat on the opposite edge of the sofa, giving Amity plenty of room to sit beside Luz. At least he was considerate, she supposed.

When Luz had suggested they all ‘hang out’, apparently she had meant doing their homework together, which Amity was more than happy for. Gus and Willow were both excellent in their Tracks and eager to provide the help she so desperately needed.

“While you  _ can  _ make plants from nothing, it helps if you have something to start with. Like a seed or a sapling,” Willow explained, holding out a small green seed to Amity, who took it gingerly. 

She’d performed very little Plant magic in her life and the one real attempt she’d made with it had gone wildly out of her control. Not exactly a glowing endorsement of her skill in the Track.

Amity held the tiny seed in her hand and frowned down at it. She knew the steps and basic structure of the spell. Willow had explained them quite thoroughly and all that was left was to try it.

Raising a finger, she hovered it over the seed and drew a small spell circle over it that was meant to force the seed to grow. Holding onto that thought, Amity pushed her magic into it until it began wobbling in her hand. A tiny split formed along its edge and, for a moment, it seemed like the spell might work. But then the seed fell still and nothing else happened.

“That was… uh… a good first attempt?” Willow said hesitantly. Amity growled in frustration and she pinched the seed between two fingers to glare at it irritably for its betrayal.

“What were you focusing on when you did the spell?” Willow asked and Amity turned to stare at her in confusion.

“Forcing it to grow?” She asked, a frown creasing her brow when Willow grimaced. “What? Isn’t that what the spell is supposed to do?” 

“Well…” Willow started, rolling a hand in the air as she thought. “It’s not about  _ forcing  _ the plant to grow. It’s more like you’re… encouraging it? Plants are living things after all. You can’t force them to do what you want. All you can do is guide them and help them along.”

“Whenever I do plant magic, I think of what I want it to look like and let the glyph do the rest,” Luz piped up. To demonstrate, she whipped out a plant glyph and screwed up her face in thought for a second before tapping it with a finger. 

A delicate purple and white flower with a bright yellow spot in its center bloomed to life on the paper. It was small and gorgeous and reminded her of Luz somehow. Luz plucked it from the paper and leaned in to tuck it carefully behind Amity’s ear. She let her fingers trail gently through Amity’s hair with a smile so soft it sent her heart fluttering. They were so close. If she just leaned in a little...

“Right, exactly like that!” Willow agreed, breaking their gaze with a knowing smirk. Of course. They had company. Amity flushed bright red and cleared her throat as Luz leaned away to pat her hands rhythmically against her legs like nothing had happened. Willow’s smirk only grew. “Visualizing what you’d like to grow is important, but you can’t force it. You have to  _ feel  _ it! There’s life in there. Find it and use it!” She added and Amity looked back down at the seed in her hand curiously.

“So… you want me to tell it what to do… without  _ telling it what to do _ ?” She asked and Willow nodded.

“Yes! Now you’re getting it!” 

She most definitely was not. That made no sense at all! She reached up a hand to touch the flower in her hair and bit her lip in thought. Luz had said to visualise so, maybe she’d just try that? Whatever flower Luz had made for her wasn’t one she’d ever seen on the Boiling Isles but it was easy enough to picture the pretty thing her even prettier girlfriend had held out to her, so she brought the image of it to mind and tried the spell again.

This time she eased her magic into the seed more carefully, instead of trying to force it like she had before. Willow was right. It was faint, but she could definitely feel something  _ alive _ in there. The seed shook again, glowing under her magic and then cracked open, growing slowly into a duplicate of the little purple and white flower Luz had made. It was smaller and not quite as vibrant, but it was otherwise the same and she grinned triumphantly.

“See? I knew you could do it!” Willow gushed. Amity grinned at her briefly, before leaning over to slip the flower into Luz’s hair like she had done for her. A bright smile spread across Luz’s suddenly pink face and she darted in to press a quick kiss to Amity’s cheek, much to Willow’s amusement and Gus’s apparent dismay.

“Titan, you two are so  _ sappy _ ,” he moaned and Willow groaned at him from across the sofa while Amity huffed indignantly. Luz, however, was positively beaming. 

“Gus… did you just make a plant pun?” She asked and Gus grinned at Luz slowly.

“I learned frond the best,” he said and Luz reached up to clutch at her chest.

“The student has grown into a master. Thyme so proud…” She whimpered. Willow groaned even louder and rolled her eyes at them, shooting a long suffering look at Amity, who was trying her best not to laugh. She would never, in a million years, admit to enjoying Luz’s stupid puns. Willow would never let her hear the end of it.

“Can we get back to work before the two of you get completely distracted?” Willow begged, making Luz and Gus simultaneously stick their tongues out at her. She breathed in deeply through her nose before turning to give Amity a very forced smile. “ _ So _ , that was much better! You visualised what you wanted and let the plant do it’s thing, right?”

“I guess? I just did what Luz said and thought about what I wanted to make,” Amity said with a shrug.

“But could you feel the  _ energy  _ in the seed? The potential for growth and life?” Willow asked, leaning in around Luz eagerly and Amity smiled at her enthusiasm.

“Sort of, yeah. It was like a little spark,” she admitted and Willow’s eyes brightened.

“Exactly!” She gushed. “Once you learn how to nurture that spark, you can do amazing things with Plant Magic!”

“ _ Or _ , you can get really fancy and conjure flowers that can do this!” Gus cut in, smirking at Willow as he drew a spell circle that burst into a troupe of brightly coloured singing flowers, complete with top hats and twirling canes, that did a little jig in the air. They tap-danced around Willow’s head and she huffed, poking at one of them to make the entire illusion collapse in a puff of smoke.

“ _ Real _ plants are a little more durable,” she quipped. Gus grinned and shrugged lightly.

“Maybe, but they’re not as cool,” he fired back and Willow seemed ready with a response when Amity cut her off. This was clearly an argument they’d had before and between this and Luz’s puns, they were well and truly on their way to getting completely distracted from homework.

“That was a really impressive illusion. How did you make something so complex so easily?” She asked Gus and he turned from his bickering with Willow to look up at her.

“It’s kind of like how Luz and Willow said. It’s all about visualisation,” he said, tapping at the side of his head. “You know some illusion magic already, right?”

“The twins taught me a few spells, yeah,” she agreed. Gus waved his hand at her in a ‘go on’ sort of way so she summoned a small light cage around her books on the table for a moment before letting it fall away again.

“You also showed me an animated history of Grom!” Luz supplied and Amity nodded at that.

“Other than that, I only know the basic light spell,” she said before turning toward Gus, who was staring at her, slack jawed.

“You… you can make a light barrier and an animated projection but you don’t know basic conjuring?” He yelped and Amity jerked back into Luz when Gus leaned in dramatically. “ _ How _ ?”

“I… I don’t know? The twins said they were useful spells and taught them to me. They took forever to learn though so I never tried any others,” she muttered, glancing away uncomfortably. The twins had teased her endlessly for not getting the spells right away, but Gus didn’t need to know that. He flopped back against the sofa and frowned, folding his arms across his chest.

“The twins, huh? No offence to your brother and sister but they’re terrible teachers,” he said nervously, wincing when Amity turned sharply back to him. “Don’t hurt me!” He cried and Amity rolled her eyes.

“I’m not going to  _ hurt _ you. I’ve just never heard anyone claim the twins to be bad at anything. Ever. I’m not  _ that  _ scary, am I?” She asked indignantly and Luz giggled beside her, tossing an arm around her shoulder.

“No, you’re adorable,” she said at the same time that Gus yelped, “yes!” Luz and Willow glared at the boy and he chuckled sheepishly. 

“What? She used to play grudgby _and_ she took on Boscha and Grom to defend Luz. Who knows what she’d do to defend the twins!”

“She’d fight a slitherbeast, but that doesn’t mean Amity is scary!” Luz said and Gus gaped at her.

“Yes, it  _ does _ !”

“Okay, we’re getting off track again!” Willow yelled over them. “Gus, Amity is our friend now so if she’s going to be scary, it’ll be  _ for  _ you, not  _ to  _ you and Luz, stop flirting with your girlfriend for two seconds so we can focus, please!” They both ducked their heads immediately, Luz snatching her arm away from Amity to fold her hands demurely in her lap.

“Yes, ma’am!” They said in unison and Willow hummed in satisfaction.

“Much better. Now, Gus, you were explaining Illusions?” Willow said and Amity grinned, thoroughly impressed. Willow’s confidence was really starting to show now and Amity couldn’t be happier for her. Titan help anyone that tried to bully her now.

Gus dusted himself of imaginary lint before he hopped off the sofa to pace in front of them like a lecturing professor.

“Right you are, Willow! Conjuring illusions takes intense focus and concentration,” he said seriously. “In order to bring an image to life, you need to know everything about it. You need to visualise the colour, the shape, the texture. Every tiny detail from every visible angle. Keep it all in your head and…” he twirled his finger in the air and, with a big puff of smoke, a second Gus appeared beside him. The illusion Gus gave a smarmy grin and shot a set of finger guns at Luz that she returned with a click of her teeth before it popped away again.

“Illusion clones are a little advanced, but you get the picture,” Gus continued. “You have to be able to see the illusion perfectly in your mind before you can conjure it up. Any flaws in the design will show up in your conjuring if you’re not careful. Normally, you start with manipulating a light spell and work your way up to more complex illusions from there.” 

Amity frowned, tapping her chin in thought. So the twins had basically been teaching her some of the most advanced spells they knew and she had brute forced them until she got them right. No wonder she’d had so much trouble!

“I guess… the twins never thought about needing to know the basics first. Illusions always came so easily to them,” she said quietly and Gus shrugged.

“Yeah, they’re prodigies alright. If they didn’t skip so many classes they’d probably have graduated by now,” he said and Amity snorted out a laugh. If their parents ever learned that, the twins would be in  _ so _ much trouble. Edric and Emira did the bare minimum work required to simply not get kicked out of school but somehow still got top marks in their exams without even trying. 

It had always been infuriating to Amity, who worked long, hard hours to maintain her high grades. She supposed it made sense then that they had so much trouble teaching her new magic. It came naturally to them. How were they supposed to explain that to Amity, who achieved things through effort?

“Wait, wait, wait.  _ Hold up _ ,” Luz interrupted, leaning forward to look at Gus seriously. “Are you saying I can do more stuff with my light spell?” Gus nodded and she gasped dramatically. “Why didn’t anyone ever  _ tell  _ me that?! It’s like, my signature spell!”

She snatched a light glyph out of her pouch and slammed it onto the table excitedly. Luz leaned in close with an expression of deep concentration etched onto her face and tapped the glyph almost reverently. The paper curled in on itself and, to her absolute delight, a little golden glowing animal with a long body and tail hovered into being over her cupped hands.

“Oh my gosh!” She squealed, eyes practically glowing with joy. Amity’s own eyes widened and she bit back a laugh. She knew exactly what that creature was. Luz had shown her countless videos of them by now after all.

“Luz… don’t you dare,” she snickered.

“But,  _ Amity _ , do you know what this  _ means _ ?” She drawled, wiggling her eyebrows at Amity playfully.

“Luz, I swear to Titan…”

“I made an otter…  _ with a light side _ .”

Luz dropped her voice into the husky tone she liked to think made her sound so mysterious and dangerous and Amity couldn’t help the loud laugh that burst out of her. Luz leaned in close, grinning at her with that same silly face she’d made way back on Grom night and Amity shoved her away playfully. Stars she was such an adorable dork!

“Uh, I’m really happy for you, Luz, but... what’s an otter?” Gus asked incredulously and Luz giggled.

“I’ll show you later, buddy,” she said before smirking at a still chuckling Amity. “Ok, your turn then, Ammy. Let’s see what you got!”

There was no mistaking Luz’s competitive tone and Amity returned the smirk with one of her own. It may be Luz’s signature spell, but Amity had been conjuring light spells her whole life. It was one of the first spells children learned on the Boiling Isles after all and if she could manipulate a light cage she could do this. Challenge accepted, Noceda!

Concentrating hard on the form she wanted it to take, Amity made sure to hold onto every detail she could as she drew the spell circle. It popped and a tiny abomination appeared next to Luz’s otter, casting Amity’s signature bright pink light against Luz’s golden magic.

“You did it!” Gus cried happily, leaning in to inspect Amity’s illusion more closely. “Nice touch on the details! It even looks kind of gooey,” he added with an impressed nod. 

Grinning to herself, Amity focused on her abomination and managed to make it stumble over to give Luz’s otter a jerky pat on its glowing head. As soon as they touched though, both illusions burst out of existence in a shower of pink and gold sparkles that scattered across the table before fading away.

“Awe, that was so cute!” Luz gushed. “It’s too bad they break so easily.”

“Yeah, giving illusions structure is a lot harder than it looks. You have to keep a lot more details in mind, like how they would feel and sound. It also takes a lot more magic to maintain them,” Gus explained as he sat back down. Amity hummed to herself thoughtfully while Luz started working on creating more illusion animals with her light spells, gleefully making them float around her head.

Conjuring illusions shared some elements with Abomination summoning, now that she thought about it. There was a lot more prep work involved with Abominations and they were a lot more tactile and difficult to control since they were technically sentient beings, but there was an element of visualisation involved too. You just focused more on commands than appearance.

Abominations, Plants, Healing, Illusions. How many links between the tracks would she see in one day?!

She kept seeing them for the rest of the week too. From Oracle to Bard and even Beast Keeping, small connections kept popping up that she’d never expected to see and she found herself suddenly excelling at magic in a way she never had before. She wasn’t learning anything terribly advanced, but she was learning  _ so much _ .

With a little help from her friends and a lot of help from Luz, Amity was making good work of her mountain of homework too, but even so, she knew something would have to give. As much as she loved getting to learn a little of everything, it was too much and she would never be able to keep up with it all  _ and  _ learn more advanced Healing at the same time.

By Thursday she had come to the difficult decision to drop Construction and Bard entirely. They were both fascinating but didn’t connect to Healing in any significant way, so she felt less attached to them than the other Tracks. Even if the artistic side to them appealed to her.

Professor Febris had been thrilled at the news and had gently nudged Principal Bump (via a very loud conversation that Amity had definitely not been listening to through his closed office door) into letting her drop two Tracks in favour of more Healing classes. With a warm pat on the shoulder, she guaranteed Amity that she would make sure Bump agreed to any further changes before she handed her a new schedule to work with.

A part of Amity was sad to say goodbye to the Tracks so soon after joining them, but it would be a welcome reprieve from all the new work and she had at least gotten a handle on the basics for each. There was nothing stopping her from doing a little independent study in her downtime if she felt like it.

Dropping the classes also meant less time with Luz but Amity took that as a good thing. Maybe. As much as she adored her girlfriend, they spent literally every waking moment together and a break from each other every now and then was probably healthy, right?

They could get some space later though. For now they were happily curled up on Luz’s bed together (with the door open of course), taking a well deserved break from homework to research curses. They’d gone hunting through the Bonesborough library earlier in the week for every book they could find on the subject and had amassed a fairly large collection to comb through whenever they had the time.

It was slow going. Most of the texts were too advanced for them to follow without looking up more reference material, but what they  _ had _ managed to glean so far was that curses were… tricky.

There were all sorts of them, ranging from simple pranks to the more long-lasting and nefarious kind like Eda’s. Each was uniquely awful and they all seemed to have their own rules for removal, none of which were easy.

Transformative curses, in particular, were difficult to find information on at all because they were considered too dark and cruel a thing to do to a witch. That, of course, meant it was going to be even harder to cure Eda than they’d expected. It was disheartening to say the least.

Luz, who had been leaning comfortably against Amity’s side, tossed the heavy old tome she’d been reading to the end of the bed and fell back against her pillows with a frustrated sigh.

“I think we need to take a break,” she groaned, tossing an arm over her eyes. “We’ve been at this all week and all we’ve come up with so far is that it’s going to be hard. We  _ knew _ that already!”

Amity lowered her own book to give her a sympathetic pat on the leg. Luz may love learning about magic but this was a lot of sitting around and reading for her energetic girlfriend. Stars, even  _ Amity _ was starting to get tired and this was what she did! They really did need a break. Or a break _ through _ at the very least.

Luz sprang suddenly upright as if tugged by an invisible cord and speared Amity with a breathtaking grin, her eyes bright and sparkling with renewed energy. 

“We should go on a date!” She declared and Amity blinked blearily at her.

“Right now? Luz, it’s the middle of the night,” she said and Luz laughed.

“No, I mean this weekend! Maybe Saturday?”

“Oh…” That made more sense. Stars, she  _ really  _ needed a break. That should have been a lot more obvious. Rubbing sleepily at her eyes, Amity set her book aside and stretched her arms high above her head, enjoying the satisfying crack in her back before turning to look at Luz, who was grinning at her expectantly.

“ _ Soooo _ , what do you say?” She asked eagerly.

“I’d really like that,” Amity agreed, smiling at her fondly. She froze then and her eyes widened with sudden realisation. “We’ve been so busy that I hadn’t really thought about it but… I guess this will be our first real date, huh?” And not just with Luz. This would be her first date… ever. Oh  _ wow _ .

“What? Romantic, death defying adventures to the Knee don’t count?” Luz asked, her lips quirking upwards and Amity gave her a flat look.

“No.”

“Okay, that’s fair,” Luz snorted before glancing around at the array of books spread out on her bed. “All this work is driving me sort of nuts though. We need to have a  _ real  _ break. So, no matter what, there will be no talking or even  _ thinking  _ about school or homework or curses for the  _ whole  _ weekend. Just cute date stuff with my even cuter girlfriend. Deal?” She stuck her hand out with a very serious expression and Amity rolled her eyes.

“Deal,” she chuckled but, when she took Luz’s hand to shake it, Amity squeaked in surprise as she was yanked in for a kiss instead. Despite the initial shock, she sank into it and found herself smiling giddily against Luz’s lips. Maybe the prospect of going on her first date with Luz (her first date  _ ever _ ... wow ) was sort of extremely terrifying, but it was also so,  _ so  _ exciting. She had no idea what to expect, having never done anything like this before but, as Luz’s hands slipped around her neck to tug her in closer, there was one thing of which she was certain. 

Amity could not  _ wait  _ for Saturday.

* * *

Haaaa, look, I updated within a month! That's improvement right? RIGHT? I might have a problem with over analyzing over editing my work >__> I definitely didn't spend three days on one conversation that just wasn't working... or 20 minutes rewriting one sentence... hahahahahaha help me.

So chapter 9 was meant to be the fluff-fest and then I split that in two coz the length got away from me. Then I started 10 and the magic exploration was too fun and the length got away from me so yaaaaay another split 8D but hey! I hope you enjoyed this... 7.5k wow... of magic world building and flirting and friendship! That also means 11 is going to be PURE fluff. Just the two of them planning and going on a date and I hope it'll be cute as all godamn hell coz you guys are so freaking patient and you have earned the fluffiest fluff I can possibly provide. You know, before the fun continues after >:]

For those that are interested, here is the flower the two saps made for each other. Purple and white violet. Is this thing not just TOO PERFECTLY LUMITY?! I mean come on! Luz's hoody and Amity's eyes. It's just... YES. Even better is the symbolism! A white violet represents innocence and a purple violet symbolizes that your “thoughts were occupied with love” for the person you are giving it to (thanks for helping with this Ro!). My heart...

**Author's Note:**

> The Owl House has consumed me. Amity Blight as a total disaster gay is my spirit animal and I had to get this out of my system. I haven't been this inspired to write by anything in years and it has been exhilarating having the drive to pump out so much writing in so short a period with no burn out. I have about 10 chapters actually plotted out so the 15 chapter mark is a rough estimate that might change. You're definitely getting more than 10 though.  
> I'm sure a lot of these themes have probably been done but this is my take on it. Fears of coming out are close to my heart so, despite the slightly cliche nature of the opening chapters, writing this was very cathartic for me.  
> What started out as a simple exploration of the Blight family dynamic and the potential ramifications Amity's sexuality could have in the family quickly became a fully formed story of self-discovery and magical theorizing. Chapter 2 has already been written and edited a few times and I've already roughed out about 2.5 more chapters, so you'll probably get chapter 2 really soon because I have no self control. I'm hoping to get chapter 3 finished first though. This is hasn't been beta'd though, apart from my obsessive re-reads and edits, so feel free to point out any mistakes you see.
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed my rambling nonsense because apparently I'm in this for the long haul now. You're all stuck with me. 
> 
> There is no sleep.  
> Only Lumity fanfiction.


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